Darkness of the Moon
by Brightfire15
Summary: Sequel to Power of the Moon. After the battle at the distillery, Artemis is ready for a fresh start, but that is pushed aside when she receives an unexpected warning that history is about to repeat itself and only she can stop it from ending the same way. Artemis will have to make new allies and fully embrace her True Alpha nature if she's to save the lives of those she loves. R&R!
1. Anchors

**Darkness of the Moon**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Anchors**

Her name was Artemis Moon.

Her life had once been a simple one, filled with the ordinaries of a regular teenager's life. But her life was anything but normal now. On the eve of her junior year of high school, Artemis Moon was bitten by an Alpha werewolf and became a lycanthrope. In the time that followed, Artemis struggled to control her inner beast with the help of her childhood friend and fellow lycanthrope, Derek Hale, while trying to find a cure for her curse. During that time, they learned the Alpha's identity and why he was killing people—he was Derek's uncle and taking revenge on those who'd slaughtered his family in the infamous Hale Fire, but not before he killed Derek's sister, Laura, to become an Alpha wolf.

Against Derek's wishes, Artemis befriended the youngest in a long line of werewolf hunters, Alison Argent. While trying to balance her new double-life, Artemis had sought a cure for her lycanthropy (which was rumored to be killing the Alpha that bit you) and also had to deal with her growing feelings for Derek and discover how she was suddenly able to feel his emotions and see into his memories. Later it was revealed that Alison's Aunt Kate had been the one to disregard the hunters' code and commit genocide. Kate had been killed by Peter in a final act of revenge as a result and Alison was brought into the supernatural world.

However, when the time came for Artemis to get the cure she sought, she refused it as no one knew for sure if Artemis killing her sire would remove her lycanthropy and Artemis feared it would just make her like Peter. So, Derek killed Peter to keep him out of their lives and to help Artemis better. Following that, Derek revealed that the link he and Artemis shared meant they were true mates, as werewolves only truly love one person once in their lifetimes. They professed their love for one another and chose to face the world together as werewolves.

For a brief time, there had been peace in Beacon Hills among the werewolves and the hunters, but then that peace was shattered.

In an effort to increase their strength, Derek had turned three of Artemis's classmates, Erica, Isaac and Boyd, into werewolves. They'd joined the pack out of their own free will and enjoyed being part of it as now they were stronger and even better, they'd all gained close friends and a family.

Artemis and Alison had been forced to end their friendship publicly as Alison's mother, Victoria, had threatened to kill Artemis with a gun full of wolfsbane bullets, if she came near Alison again. Chris had no problem with his daughter's friendship as Artemis had yet to do anything to get herself hunted, (at least in his opinion as he followed the hunter's code) but Alison and Artemis had agreed to fake the ending of their friendship and were secretly continuing it behind Victoria's back as they refused to let anything stand in the way of their friendship.

The situation worsened when Alison's grandfather, Gerard, came to Beacon Hills and declared war between the hunters and werewolves out of a desire for revenge for Kate's death. Things worsened further when Jackson, who'd found a vial of Peter's werewolf venom in his locker and used it to turn himself into a werewolf. The plan backfired as Jackson had some problems in his past that resulted in him turning into a kanima, a creature sworn to take vengeance on murderers on behalf of its master.

While trying to stop Jackson and learn his master's identity, Derek and Lydia were the victims of Peter's backup plan. When Peter had bitten Lydia, he knew the bite wouldn't kill or turn her because she was immune. For weeks, he tormented Lydia from beyond the grave until she finally gave into his demands and used Derek to resurrect Peter. He was just a weakened Beta wolf now, but no one trusted him and he was kept on short leash.

Jackson's master was eventually revealed to be Matt, a boy from Artemis's school with a heavy grudge against those that that had wronged him and an obsession over both Artemis and Alison. Matt was eventually stopped, but Gerard became the kanima's master and tried to use him as a way of controlling Artemis. It was revealed that Gerard had terminal cancer and sought to become an Alpha wolf in order to cure himself and grant himself power. But Artemis tricked him into taking werewolf venom laced with mountain ash, which stopped him for good.

With the combined efforts of Lydia, Derek and Peter, Jackson was freed of the kanima's curse and became a blue-eyed Beta wolf. The war between werewolves and hunters ended and things became somewhat quiet. But as expected, the peace in Artemis's life didn't last long. Trouble came in the form of an Alpha pack led by Deucalion, a.k.a. the Demon Wolf, who sought to either have Artemis join his pack or kill her if she didn't as she was the True Alpha, a very rare type of werewolf who could ascend from Beta to Alpha by goodness of heart and sheer force of will rather than conquest or death.

Artemis had been shocked to learn that her older sister Kali, who was believed to be dead, was alive. She was devastated to learn that Kali was also an Alpha and part of Deucalion's Alpha pack. The two fought on opposite sides of the battlefield until Kali learned of Deucalion's plans for Artemis, which caused her to defect and the sisters to reconcile to the point where Kali sacrificed her status as an Alpha in order to save Derek's life from mistletoe poisoning.

Despite his plans for Artemis and her disdain for him, Artemis joined forces with Deucalion in order to defeat the Darach, Jennifer Blake, Kali's former druidic emissary who'd sought vengeance on Kali and the Alpha pack by sacrificing innocent lives in order to acquire power. The night of the lunar eclipse, the Darach was finally defeated; Artemis completed her ascension from Beta to Alpha and Deucalion left Beacon Hills, being the only Alpha left of his Alpha pack, but victory did not come without cost. Tragically, during the fight against the Darach, Kali sacrificed herself to save her sister's life, leaving Artemis devastated.

Now things were quiet once again, how long the peace would last this time, no one could say.

XXX

It was late one night as Artemis lay sleeping in her bed.

She was not sleeping peacefully as she was trapped in a dream she couldn't wake up from. She was reliving the night of Kali's death and enduring the feelings of helplessness, grief and anger all over again. It was driving her crazy.

Artemis then woke up, breathing hard and sweating. She saw that she was in her room and she began to calm down, but she still shook and silent tears slid down her cheeks. How many times did she need to relive her sister's death? When would the world quit taunting her of her failure to save Kali's life and leave her in peace? Artemis had enough to deal with as it was with watching for signs of Beacon Hills's beacon being relit, dealing with her father's unwanted presence in her life and controlling her newfound True Alpha wolf abilities. She did not need to keep reliving Kali's death!

"You okay, Arty?"

Artemis's head shot up and her eyes widened at the sight of her sister standing in the doorway, looking perfectly fine and well.

"Kali?" she gasped. "You're here, but how? You died. I saw you die. The Darach killed you." But how could that be true if Kali was here? Had everything she'd experienced, Kali's death, the Darach's defeat and her ascension from Beta to True Alpha, just been one terrifying dream? "You left me again."

Kali gave her a sympathetic look as she sat beside Artemis on the bed and held her close. "I'm sorry, Artemis. I should've known you weren't completely over my leaving. But it's going to be okay. I'm here now and I'm never leaving you again, I promise. Even the Darach can't take me away from you again."

Artemis sighed in relief as she returned Kali's embrace for a moment. Perhaps she'd just had one horrifying nightmare. Kali wasn't really dead. That meant the Darach was still out there, but she could live with that for the time being as it meant Kali was still here and not dead and buried.

But when Artemis broke apart from her sister's embrace, she frowned. "Kali…"

"Yes, little sister?" asked Kali.

"Let me see your hand," said Artemis.

Without waiting for a reply, Artemis grabbed Kali's left hand and was horrified by what she saw. Stiles had told her that one of the ways to tell the difference between dream and reality was the number of fingers on a person's hand. Kali's right hand had seven fingers.

"You're not real," whispered Artemis, as she backed up against the headboard. "This is a dream. I need to wake up. WAKE UP!"

Artemis then woke up for real and this time she was screaming. Moments later, the light switched on as Melissa ran into the bedroom and held Artemis tightly in her arms as Artemis cried out and clutched her mother for dear life.

"It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay," said Melissa, soothingly. "I'm here. It's okay."

She went on like that until Artemis had calmed down somewhat and then Melissa got her a glass of water and anxiety pill, which Artemis didn't hesitate to take.

"Are you feeling better now?" asked Melissa, as she placed the now empty glass of water on Artemis's bedside table.

"Depends on your definition of 'better,'" said Artemis. She didn't feel like screaming and nor did she feel scared, but Artemis was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to be truly better as it had been months since Kali's death and she was still hurting badly. There were days when Artemis felt strong and was able to get through the day with some cheer and other times when she was a mess of grief and guilt over Kali's death as Artemis missed Kali fiercely and couldn't help but blame herself for Kali's death. "I miss Kali so much, Mom. I want to remember her. But not like this."

Melissa's face softened as she tucked a strand of Artemis's hair behind her head. "I know, honey. I miss her too. I know how hard it is, but you _will _get past this." The loss of Kali had taken a toll on Melissa as well as Melissa had lost her daughter a second time and had had to bury her, which was something no parent should ever have to endure.

Artemis sighed. "I want to believe that. But it seems like every time I actually think I can, I end up reliving that night again and the tears and guilt crashing down on me." Losing Kali the first time had been difficult enough but this time it was worse Kali had died in Artemis's arms and there was no chance of her ever returning.

"Guilt?" repeated Melissa. "Artemis, honey, it wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"How can I not? Jennifer was trying to kill _me_. That sword's blow was meant for _me. _If I had just moved or done _something_, Kali wouldn't have needed to sacrifice herself for me," said Artemis, as fresh tears slid down her cheeks. "And if that's not enough, I keep wondering how long it's going to be before I lose someone else I love. How long is it before the next big bad comes here and someone else sacrifices their life for mine or worse, I fail to save that person from whatever's out there or more innocents die because I'm not quick enough to deal with the latest threat?"

It wasn't just Kali's death that been weighing on Artemis. Kali's death had sparked questions in Artemis's mind and her heart had been aching with guilt at not being able to save the innocents who'd been caught in the crossfire of the supernatural battles or those who had been targets of a supernatural creature and killed for it. She couldn't help but wonder who she would fail to save next and how long she'd have to suffer for it.

Melissa held Artemis close. "Artemis, listen to me. I may not have all the answers to your questions, but I do know that whatever happens, you will get through it. And you won't be alone. I'm here for you and so is Derek and Stiles and the rest of your pack. You've been through a lot but you haven't let it beat you down and for that, I'm so proud of you. You're going to be okay. It's just going to take time."

Artemis couldn't help but smile at this. "Thanks, Mom."

"Besides, I don't think you've got to worry about any bad big anytime soon. Besides, aside from you and your pack shifting on the full moon, nothing supernatural has happened in months. It's quiet out."

"For now," said Artemis. She sighed yet again. "But I doubt it's going to last much longer. It's never quiet for more than a little while and besides, both Deaton and Deucalion said that Jennifer's actions turned Beacon Hills into a beacon for the supernatural. Something nasty's going to come and soon. I just know it."

"Well, nothing's happening now. So, I suggest you try and get some sleep. You've got your first day back at school tomorrow," said Melissa.

_Right. How could I forget what tonight is? _

It had been one full year since the eve of Artemis's junior year when she'd first been bitten by Peter and turned into a werewolf. Much had changed in that brief time and Artemis had no doubt that much would change yet again by the time another full year had come and gone.

"Yeah, I know," said Artemis. "But I don't think I can sleep like this." How could she go back to sleep after the dreams she'd just had? They were out of sleeping pills and couldn't get more until morning, which made the chance of a restful sleep even less likely than before.

Right on cue, there was a tapping on her window. Melissa got up and opened the blinds to reveal Artemis's boyfriend and mate, Derek, waiting patiently outside. As always, he was watching over her and ready to make her feel better. He must've sensed Artemis's distress through their link or heard her cry of pain.

"Well, I think your sleeping problem's solved for tonight," said Melissa.

Somehow, Artemis slept better when Derek was with her. He had a way of making her feel unafraid and safe.

Artemis smiled. "It looks that way."

Melissa unlocked the window and opened it, allowing Derek entrance. As Derek cuddled up with Artemis and the young girl quickly fell asleep in the safety of her boyfriend's protective embrace, Melissa left the room with a smile on her face, knowing there'd be no more nightmares for her daughter that night.

XXX

The following day, instead of taking up Derek's offer of a sick day and take time to herself, Artemis had him drop her off at the high school after promising to let him know if she needed to bail for any reason. But in all honesty, regardless of her problems, Artemis knew she needed to maintain her routine and move forward with her life if she was to ever find peace. Keeping busy with school would help her. One way or another, she would get past her pain. It was just going to take time.

When she arrived at school, she was met by Alison, Stiles, Lydia and the rest of the pack's Beta wolves, who all looked at her with concern. Ethan and Aiden were not among them as they were out of town for a few days on a vacation.

"Hi, guys. What's going on?" asked Artemis.

"We were about to ask you the same thing. Are you okay, Arty?" asked Stiles.

Artemis nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired. I didn't sleep that well last night."

Jackson snorted. "That's an understatement."

Artemis's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"He means we all heard you screaming last night," explained Cora. "It woke us all up. And no offense, but have you looked in a mirror lately? You look awful. You're all pale and you've got bags under your eyes."

Artemis sighed. "I'm sorry I woke you up and scared you guys. It wasn't intentional." She wasn't surprised that the pack had heard her screaming, but at the same time, she wished they hadn't. "And don't worry about how I look. I'll just put on some blush and cover-up in the bathroom before anyone else notices."

"That's not the point, Artemis," said Alison, testily. "The point is, you're clearly not fine. You're still struggling and you kept it from us."

"Alison's right. We're a pack. We're supposed to help each other out with this kind of stuff. Why didn't you tell us?" asked Isaac, looking hurt.

"Because my sleep problems aren't that big of a deal and even so, it's something I've got to deal with. There's nothing you guys can do to fix it," said Artemis. "Besides, I'm the True Alpha. It's my job to look after and protect you guys."

She appreciated their concern, but unless they had a way to fix her insomnia and rid her of her constant nightmares, there was nothing to be done except to try and cope with it.

"And what do you think our job is, Artemis? Looking after one another and protecting each other goes both ways. It's not a one-way street. You don't need to face your problems alone," said Erica. She took Artemis's hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. "You don't always need to be the powerful Alpha. You've always been there for us when we needed you, even if it was something you couldn't fix. Let us be there for you now."

Artemis sighed yet again. They had a point. She couldn't deny it. And she had to admit that if their roles were reversed, she'd be doing the same thing they were doing now. Her pack was her family and even if they couldn't completely fix her problems, they could at least be there for her or at least try to find a solution of some sort.

So, with some reluctance, Artemis told them of what had occurred last night and how she'd had to scream herself awake in order to snap out of her dreams, as they all walked to their first class of the day.

"…you couldn't wake up at all?" said Boyd, frowning.

"No. And it was beyond terrifying," said Artemis, shuddering as she thought of her nightmares. "I had to scream myself awake to snap out of it, literally."

"Well, it sounds like a case of sleep paralysis," said Stiles.

Artemis looked at him in confusion. "Do I even want to know what that is?"

"You've had a lot of dreams when you can't move or talk, right?" When Artemis nodded, Stiles continued. "Sleep paralysis happens because during REM sleep, your body is basically paralyzed. It's called muscle atonia. That way if you start dreaming about running, you don't actually start running in your bed. But sometimes your mind can wake up before your body does. So, for this split second, you're actually aware that your body's paralyzed. You can feel like you're falling or drowning, or in your case, in the place where really bad stuff happened."

"Makes sense," she admitted. The sleep paralysis basically turned her peaceful slumber into a nightmare she had trouble waking up from. "So, basically, I'm still being affected from that night, and it's not just grief. I'm suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder."

"Basically, yes," admitted Lydia. "PTSD can happen to anyone at any time depending on the situation. Honestly, I'd be surprised if you actually were completely fine after what happened that night." Having been traumatized by Peter and forced into her new life as a Banshee, Lydia was something of an expert on the subject. "Besides, after all the dangerous adventures you've been through in the past year and considering that you're now a powerful Alpha, it was bound to catch up with you sooner or later."

"Great," muttered Artemis. She wasn't at all happy about it. She had enough on her plate as it was without adding more to it. She had PTSD, nightmares and sleep paralysis. What was next, hallucinations? "That's just perfect."

"If it's any consolation, you're not the only one who wishes they could forget that night," said Stiles, as he became pale. "I almost lost my dad that night and it's scared me so much that I've been having nightmares too. Not as bad as yours, but you get the point."

Artemis gave her best friend's hand a sympathetic squeeze. "I know. I'm sorry about that, I really am." She sighed yet again. "I don't know. Maybe I just need a little more time to get back to normal."

Stiles didn't look convinced. "Yeah, try not to forget that a crazed, vengeance-seeking Darach hit the reset button on a supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures and you became a True Alpha wolf. There's a pretty good chance things are never getting back to normal."

"He's got a point," said Isaac. "Besides, when have any of us really been normal?"

"True," admitted Artemis. "But there's something else I haven't told you guys. My stress and anxiety isn't just because of Kali or the True Alpha business. My father's determined to become part of my life again and won't take no for an answer. It terrifies me that he might actually win my mom back and move back in and I'll have to deal with him on a daily basis again."

Those among Artemis's friends who didn't know the past history between Artemis and her father, Rafael, looked at her in confusion.

"Why's that a problem?" asked Boyd. "He's your dad. Don't you want him back?"

"Heck no!" said Artemis, with vehemence. She'd never wanted Rafael back into her life before he'd divorced her mother and left her before and she certainly didn't want him back now. "You don't understand. Rafael Moon's never been a dad to me, at all. He's just the bozo who helped create me, nothing more. Now, he might never have hurt me physically, but he did a lot of emotional damage. The man was never there for me because he was being a workaholic, and even when he was home, he made me feel like his emotional punching bag, especially when he'd had a bad day at work.

"For a number of years, I tried my hardest to make him proud but I eventually gave up because I realized it was all for naught because nothing I ever did was good enough for that man! Heck, the only times I felt welcome in my own house was when he wasn't around! And let's not forget, he's the reason I lost Kali in the first place! So, you tell me, why on earth should I let Rafael Moon back into my life when it's just a setup for me to get hurt again. He says he's changed, but that's a crock of crap. People like him are incapable of changing. I just want him gone, out of town and out of my life, for good."

Artemis felt a surge of anger and tears burning in her eyes as she spoke of all her father had put her through but she forced it back. Now wasn't the time to get emotional or trigger a shifting. It was time to be calm. Rafael Moon was never her dad. He was her father, the man who'd created her and Kali, nothing more. In Artemis's opinion her true dad was Dr. Deaton. She'd managed just fine over the last decade without Rafael in her life. She hadn't needed him then and she didn't need him now. She was better off without him.

Most of her friends looked sympathetic while Jackson whistled low.

"Well, maybe you should just sic Derek on him. That'd get rid of him," said Jackson.

That made Artemis laugh and she felt considerably better as the bell then rang and they took their seats in the classroom.

XXX

During history class just a few days later, the new history teacher, Mr. Ken Yurikuma, introduced himself and unintentionally embarrassed his daughter, the school's new student, in the process.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Mr. Yurikuma. I'll be taking over for your previous history teacher," he said, smiling. "My family and I moved here a month ago. And I'm sure by now, you all know my daughter, Kira. Or you might not, as she's never mentioned anyone from school or brought home a friend for that matter."

There was the sound of a thud as Kira's head hit her desk and she buried her face in her arms, causing everyone to turn and look at her and others to snigger softly at Kira's humiliation as the teacher proceeded with his lesson.

When Kira's head rose up from her desk, she caught the sympathetic look and soft smile that Artemis gave her. Kira smiled back and looked at her gratefully, happy that Artemis wasn't laughing or impolitely staring.

While Mr. Yurikuma wasn't looking, Artemis quickly scribbled out a note that read, '_My name's Artemis Moon. Want to sit with me and my friends at lunch?_' and passed it to Kira.

Artemis had decided she wanted to make a new friend and from what she'd seen of Kira over the last few days, she knew Kira would be a good choice.

Kira took the note, read it and then smiled and eagerly nodded in Artemis's direction.

Artemis smiled back. It was the beginning of a new beautiful friendship.

XXX

Later that day, before Artemis went to lunch, she was washing up in the single-stall bathroom when suddenly, something unexpected and unexplainable happened. The bathroom suddenly became as cold as a winter's eve. Cold wind blew, Artemis saw her breath while frost and ice crackled as it formed on the bathroom mirror.

"What on earth—?" murmured Artemis.

She scraped some of the frost and ice off the mirror and had to force herself not to scream when she saw Kali's reflection in the mirror in the now cleared off spot. When she turned around, Kali was still standing there, looking the same as she did the night she'd died except there was a faint scar where the sword wound had been.

When Artemis dared to try and touch Kali, her hand went through Kali as though she wasn't there, like she was a ghost or an illusion. What was even more startling was the feeling of cold and ice that went through Artemis's hand as she tried to touch her sister.

"Not quite the welcoming I was expecting, but I'll take it," said Kali, smirking.

Frightened, Artemis backed up into the bathroom sink. "I'm either dreaming, hallucinating or I'm losing my mind. Either way, this isn't happening. You're not here. You're not real. You're dead! _You're not real!_" she repeated to herself.

Kali chuckled. "Even if that were true, which it isn't, how could you possibly prove it?"

Artemis realized Kali was right and she swallowed painfully. "Kali? You're here? You're really, actually here?" It was a childish question but it escaped before Artemis could stop herself.

"In a manner of speaking," admitted Kali. "I'm not alive, but I am here. You're not losing your mind, Artemis. This is real."

Artemis's heart skipped a beat as she realized what Kali meant. She was talking to a ghost. An actual _ghost_. The more rational part of her was shocked and still in disbelief, but her inner wolf seemed to remind her that after all she'd faced—werewolves, a kanima, hunters and Darach—a ghost wasn't that far-fetched. And all that aside, she had mixed feelings at seeing Kali again. She felt glad but at the same time, hurt and confused as to why Kali was showing up now of all times.

"Why're you here? Why now? I've been grieving for you and longing to see you again for months. Why're you here _now_ of all times?" asked Artemis.

Kali looked regretful. "If I could've come earlier, I would have. I've missed you so much. But the rules Up There are clear. My…visits have to be limited and only when necessary. Besides, you and I both needed time to adjust. And before you ask, I'm not allowed to tell you about what it's like Up There."

Kali's explanation made a bit of sense, even if Artemis didn't like it. "But you are happy, aren't you? You're at peace with Ennis?" She needed to know that much at least.

Kali nodded.

Artemis heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed. "Good. I'm glad to hear it. Now, back to my other question. Why're you here now?" Glad as she was to see Kali again, Artemis suspected her sister's visit from the grave wasn't a social call, especially since Kali said her visits were supposed to be limited and only when necessary.

Kali looked grim. "Right. I almost forgot." Her tone became serious. "I don't have much time left, so I'll cut to the chase. There's danger coming, Artemis. What happened at the Nemeton the night I died, will cause history to repeat itself and only you can keep it from ending the same way. Don't give up on your friend even when others do. The fox and the wolf, though normally enemies, must become allies if there's to be victory. And be warned, someday soon, an enemy you thought was gone will return in a way you will never expect."

Artemis felt a wave of fear and confusion. "What're you talking about? What's coming?" And what on earth had Kali meant about the fox and wolf and the not giving up on her friend? She'd said 'friend,' singular, which meant one among Artemis's pack was in danger and she couldn't give up on whoever it was. But who was it and why? "Why're you so being cryptic?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't be any clearer. You just have to trust me and remember what I said," said Kali. She began to fade away. "I'll see you again, I promise. I love you sis. Be careful."

"Kali, wait—!"

But it was too late, Kali was gone and Artemis was left alone in the bathroom, feeling shaken. For a moment she wondered if it truly had been a hallucination, but the sight of the frost and ice still on the mirror proved that it wasn't.

Quickly, Artemis grabbed her backpack and left the bathroom and called Derek on her cellphone, asking him to meet her at lunch with the others and informing of what just happened. It was time for a pack meeting.

XXX

At lunch, there was a pack meeting outside.

No one was worried about being overheard as the chill of the autumn day was keeping everyone else indoors, which made it the perfect meeting spot for the pack to discuss what was happening and what Artemis had just witnessed.

"I still can't believe you actually saw a ghost. How cool is that?" said Stiles.

"I would think better of it if Kali hadn't given me that warning," said Artemis. The warning concerned her as it confirmed her suspicions that the Darach's actions had indeed caused them some trouble. "I don't know what's worse, the ominous warning or that I would think I was having a hallucination."

"How do you know you weren't?" asked Lydia. "When Peter got into my head, half the things I thought were real, weren't."

"Because the ice and frost were still on the mirror when she left," said Artemis. There was a hint of exasperation in her tone. "It wasn't there until I was about to leave and even then, the door was locked and I was the only one in there until she showed up. _I _didn't make it, and besides, all the ghost lore I've ever read says that the temperature drops in the presence of a ghost. And I can't believe I just said that."

"Considering everything we've been through the past year, I can believe it," said Derek. Granted there was a way for a werewolf to converse with of their deceased kin, but this wasn't one of them last he'd heard. Derek was stunned that Artemis had actually seen and conversed with a ghost, but he still believed her as his mate was no liar and stranger things had happened. "Let's think about what Kali said. She said an enemy we thought was gone would come back unexpectedly. That could mean Deucalion or even Peter. But she also what happened at the Nemeton was going to cause history to repeat itself. What happened at the Nemeton?"

"Not much. The storm just about wrecked it. We almost didn't get out," said Alison, shrugging. "Some jars and shelves were broken but that's it."

"I fail to see how that's going to cause history to repeat itself," said Jackson. "And what about the fox and the wolf gibberish? What's all that about?"

"In nature, foxes and wolves don't get along. But I'm guessing that's not the kind of fox Kali was talking about," said Alison. "Any ideas, guys?"

"There're kitsunes, Japanese fox tricksters. They're not known for having the best relationships with werewolves," explained Derek. "They're dangerous and crafty. It's not a great idea to cross one wrong and they can be a bit rare."

"Yeesh," said Artemis. Just what she needed, another dangerous supernatural foe. "And if we meet one, what then? Tell him or her that my dead older sister told me that we need to be allies in a fight against a foe we don't know squat about?"

Everyone winced and realized how absurd that sounded.

"Forgive me, but as much as I want to believe all this, aren't we forgetting all the trauma we've been through since that night?" pointed out Cora. "How do we know any of this is real? How can we prove this isn't some trick our minds are playing on us?"

Artemis shot Cora a glare. "Okay, fine. Let's say, for argument's sake that what I experienced in the bathroom wasn't real, just like the dreams I've been having. Then what the heck's going on? What happens to someone who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?"

"And is unable to tell what's real or not?" added Stiles.

"And is being haunted by visions of dead relatives?" added Alison.

"They're all locked up because they're insane," said Jackson, sounding bored.

Derek's eyes briefly flashed their Alpha red at Jackson. "Unless you can be helpful, shut it." He didn't take such insults lightly, especially when they were directed at his mate.

Jackson looked annoyed, but didn't protest.

"Hi, Artemis," said Kira, startling them.

"Kira, hey," said Artemis. She felt a stab of guilt as in all the excitement, she'd forgotten she'd invited Kira to sit with them during lunch. "Let me move my bag so you can join us." She moved her backpack off the bench, making room for Kira. "Guys, this is Kira Yukimura. She's my new friend. I invited her to sit with us. I hope that's okay."

Her tone was friendly but there was a slight edge to it that sent a clear message to the others to allow Kira's presence at their table without protest or argument.

Thankfully, no one protested. Some of them even looked interested and friendly.

"Kira, this is my boyfriend Derek, and these my friends, Jackson, Lydia, Stiles, Alison, Isaac, Erica and Boyd," said Artemis.

"Nice to meet you," said Kira, smiling as she sat down. "Uh, forgive me but I couldn't help but overhear some of the stuff you were talking about and I think I might actually know what you're talking about."

"You do?" said Derek, surprised.

Kira nodded. "There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called 'Bardo.' It literally means, 'in-between state.' The state between life and death. What you guys were talking about, all of that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by wrathful deities."

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Wrathful deities?" he repeated. "Like what?"

"Like demons."

"Demons," repeated Stiles. "Why not?" It sounded quite ludicrous, but after everything they'd encountered over the past year, a demon was just one more thing to add to the list.

Artemis frowned. "Wait, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?"

Kira looked a bit grim. "Death. You die."

Most of the pack exchanged either frightened or concerned looks while Artemis just shook her head. She knew she wasn't crazy or experiencing Bardo. What she'd dealt with was real. And no matter what the others thought, she wasn't in danger of dying, at least not at the moment.

_Have I mentioned how glad I am that you're not experiencing Bardo? _said Derek, via their link.

_Not until now, no,_ replied Artemis. She squeezed his hand under the table. _I'm going to be fine, Derek, I promise. We'll figure this out. We always do._

_I know_, said Derek. _I love you._

_I love you too,_ said Artemis. Aloud she said, "Thanks for the intel, Kira. That was really helpful." She then changed the subject and the rest of the lunch hour went on without any further mention of the supernatural or Bardo. Instead, everyone chatted about their summers and got to know Kira.

XXX

Later that night, Stiles went to visit his father the police station to deliver his dinner. He went to his father's office, but didn't see the sheriff.

"Dad, where are you? I got dinner," said Stiles. He'd order their favorite takeout, consisting of roast beef sandwiches, curly fries and cherry turnovers from Arby's. "Dad?"

"Down here."

Stiles looked down to see a mess of cardboard boxes and files on the floor and Sheriff Stilinski was kneeling on the floor, going through them.

"Dad, what're you doing and what is all this?" asked Stiles, beckoning to the messy office.

"I was working and now I'm eating because I'm starving," said Sheriff Stilinski. He rose up and took a seat before he and Stiles began eating their dinner. "I've been looking over some old cases from a more illuminated perspective, if you know what I mean."

Stiles briefly glanced through one of the files. "'_Witnesses claim seeing a bipedal lizard man on the dance floor._' I remember that one." How could he forget the time they'd been chasing Jackson when he was the kanima and he'd paralyzed Danny and six others at a club under Matt's orders?

"And that's going into the kanima pile," said Sheriff Stilinski. He took the file out of Stiles' hand and dropped it among some others.

Stiles gave his father a look. "Dad, you're not seriously going through back through all your old cases to see if any of them had anything to do with the supernatural, are you?" He liked his father's new perspective, but at the same times, Stiles didn't want the sheriff to know everything he and the others had gotten themselves into over the past year. Not to mention, most of the stuff in the files would probably give his father nightmares for the rest of his life.

Sheriff Stilinski looked sheepish. "I admit that the recent opening of my eyes to the greater mysteries of the universe has got me reassessing. There're at least a hundred cases here where I can look at the details and ask myself, 'if I knew then, what I know now, would I have solved the case?'"

Stiles nodded in agreement as he'd done stuff like that before. "But are you sure you want to go down this path?"

"Do I have a choice?" Sheriff Stilinski pulled up a file from off his desk. "There's one case in particular that I can't get out of my head. Eight years ago, I had to tell a man by the name of Tate that not only had his wife and two daughters died in a car accident, but as best we could tell, the body of his nine-year-old daughter, Malia, had been dragged away by a coyote. We didn't even find the car until three days later. By the looks of it, they'd driven into a pretty deep ravine and there were signs of an animal attack."

Stiles grimaced and almost lost his appetite. The car accident was a terrible tragedy on its own, but to not be able to bury one of your own offspring was even worse. But that didn't explain why his father thought the case might've had something to do with the supernatural world.

"Why does this case stand out to you?" asked Stiles.

"Because of when the car accident happened," said Sheriff Stilinski. He pointed to a small calendar in the file that marked the lunar cycle. "Look familiar?"

Stiles' grimace faded. "The night of a full moon." The night of a full was the worst night of the month for a supernatural being. Any number of things could've happened. "So, the accident might not have been an accident. A werewolf might've caused it."

Sheriff Stilinski nodded. "Exactly."

Stiles then frowned when he noticed the labels on the boxes. "Dad, why're these going to the office of Rafael Moon?"

Sheriff Stilinski sighed. "Son…there's something we need to discuss."

XXX

The following night after her shift, Artemis spoke with her boss, Dr. Deaton about what she'd been going through and of Kali's visit and message. Deaton confirmed that while it was quite rare, it wasn't unheard of for supernatural beings like werewolves to converse with their loved ones from beyond the grave, especially if they had attachments such as their bodies or a trinket from their mortal life, in this case it was Kali's locket that Artemis had been wearing since Kali's death.

Unfortunately, Deaton didn't know what exactly Kali had meant, aside from that of the kitsune, but he promised to look into it and let Artemis and the others know if his research turned up anything. He also advised Artemis to take the message seriously and to be on her guard, because, according to Deaton, warnings from the dear departed were never a joke and always came to pass, especially when one least expected it.

Artemis promised she would and then left the vet's clinic. She was about to head home when Sheriff Stilinski pulled up in his jeep. He looked concerned as he came out of it and approached her.

"Sheriff. Good evening. What brings you here?" asked Artemis, concerned.

"I'm here because I need your help, Artemis," said Sheriff Stilinski. "Well, I need your help and Derek and Stiles'."

Artemis looked concerned. "What? Why? What's happened?"

"Eight years ago, almost an entire family died in a car accident," said Sheriff Stilinski. "One of the bodies, a young girl named Malia, was never found. We assumed a coyote had run off with it, but here's the thing, the car accident happened on the night of a full moon. That and all the rest of the evidence has me thinking that a werewolf caused the crash."

"Ah," said Artemis. She understood now. "So, you want me and Derek to try to pick up a scent, try to find her trail and her body, and Stiles to find any clues we might miss."

Sheriff Stilinski nodded. "If you wouldn't mind."

"No. I don't mind at all. But Sheriff, it _was _a werewolf, what do you intend to do? You can't keep one imprisoned unless it's with a mountain ash barrier," said Artemis. She understood the seriousness of the situation. If it was a werewolf, then there was a killer on the loose, one who needed to be brought to justice. But even so, there was no way to keep one locked up without risk of exposure of the supernatural world to humans.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," said Sheriff Stilinski. "Now, will you do it?"

"Of course," said Artemis. She couldn't possibly refuse. "Just tell me where and when."

XXX

Sheriff Stilinski had them enact his plan on the following Sunday, which meant Artemis wouldn't be missing school and her absence from the house could be explained as being away with her friends if Rafael asked. She'd informed the pack of what was going on and Derek had agreed to help her pick up Malia's scent at her house while Stiles looked for any helpful clues.

While Sheriff Stilinski spoke with Mr. Tate downstairs in the living room to keep him distracted; Artemis, Derek and Stiles snuck into Malia's old bedroom wand began searching through it to try and find something that would help them find Malia's body as quickly and quietly as they could.

"Have you guys found anything?" asked Stiles, as he rifled through Malia's possessions.

"No. Just an animal scent and something odd," said Artemis, frowning as she sniffed a stuffed animal. "Derek, is that coyote I smell?" There was another animal scent there too, but it was the coyote scent that didn't sit right with her.

"It's faint, but it's there," said Derek, as his nose wrinkled. "But there's something off about it. But I can't put my finger on it."

Stiles stared at them. "Dudes, why would a coyote be in a little girl's room?"

"How're we supposed to know?" snapped Artemis, in irritation.

The coyote scent didn't make much sense, but that and the dog smell was all she was picking up at the moment. Malia hadn't set foot in her room in years, so naturally any scent of her was more or less gone or too stale for use.

"Uh…guys, I think I know where other animal scent came from because we've got company," said Stiles, stiffening.

A large Doberman was standing in the doorway and judging by the growling noises, it was not happy to see the intruders in Malia's bedroom.

"Huntress, you want to handle this or should I?" asked Derek.

"I'll do it," said Artemis. She'd been training and learning to control her new Alpha abilities for months. Now was as good a time as any to put them into practice. She approached the dog and flashed her Alpha red eyes at it, causing the dog to cease growling and instead sit down in submission to the Alpha.

Derek smiled. "Good work."

Unfortunately, keeping the dog quiet and snapping a picture of a photograph of Malia and her younger sister before the car crash was the only good luck they had. They ended up meeting the sheriff outside to inform him of their fruitless search.

"We're sorry. We tried as hard we could, but the trail's gone cold," said Derek. "If it had been a while earlier, we might've been able to find something."

Sheriff Stilinski looked disappointed, but not angry. "It's okay, it was a longshot. In fact, it was a pretty terrible idea." He seemed upset. He'd had to tell Mr. Tate that the police were looking into reopening the case and classifying it as an unsolved murder, something that shaken up the poor man quite a bit. "I think I reopened that poor man's old wounds. I never should've brought you three here. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Sheriff, it wasn't a bad idea. If I could've had someone looking for a supernatural explanation for Kali's disappearance all those years ago, I would've jumped at it too," said Artemis. "We'll keep looking and something will turn up, I know it." She knew it was a longshot, but there was little chance of her backing out of it now.

Sheriff Stilinski shook his head. "No. That's okay, Artemis. Thanks for trying, though. Stiles, I'll see you at home." He then got into his car and drove off.

Derek frowned as the sheriff left. "Why's your dad suddenly looking into this case? Unsolved cases happen all the time, don't they?"

Stiles sighed. "Yeah, but I think he felt like this was one he could solve, especially now that he knows what we know and he wants to solve as many he can while he's still the sheriff."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'still the sheriff'?"

Stiles realized his slipup and tried to cover it up but Artemis and Derek persisted and Stiles soon revealed that Artemis's father, Agent Rafael Moon, was filing an impeachment case against the sheriff for 'lack of resolution and ability to solve cases.' Needless to say, Artemis wasn't happy and resolved to speak with her father that evening as he was joining her and her mother for dinner.

XXX

Later that evening, Rafael came by for dinner. He'd been visiting the house a few times a month, one of his many attempts to get back into his daughter's life.

Artemis let him in and escorted him to the living room where they'd wait for Melissa to come home from work before eating and then without warning, she slapped him hard. Not enough to do any serious damage, but enough to make her feelings known.

"Ow!" said Rafael, as he cradled her jaw. There was a handprint forming where Artemis had hit him and bruises were making themselves known. "You know it's illegal to assault a federal agent, especially when it's your own father who's done nothing to deserve to be treated like that."

"Yeah, tell that to someone who actually gives a crap!" snapped Artemis. She was too angry to care about any legal consequences from hitting him. "And you're a fine one to talk about respect and courtesy. As far as I'm concerned, you deserve none, especially now after what you've done! Were you seriously naïve enough to think I wouldn't find out about the impeachment case or think that I'd be happy with it when I found out?"

Rafael's eyes flickered down to his feet. "Oh, that."

"Yes, _that!_" growled Artemis. She couldn't believe Rafael. She knew he was a jerk with no love for Stiles' father but this was the lowest of the low. "How _dare _you! There's no reason for Stiles' dad to lose his job! He's caught the culprit of every big case that's happened within this year alone!"

"If you're referring to the last three big cases, then you're sorely mistaken. All three culprits were found dead and weren't arrested," said Rafael, sternly. "I don't call that progress."

"Whatever! He still solved and closed the cases!" said Artemis, as she threw up her hands. "What is the deal between you two anyway?"

"There's nothing between us," said Rafael, stiffening. His heartbeat quickened. He was lying. "I'm just doing my job and that is to do what's best for this town!"

"Bull shark!" spat Artemis, angrily. "You've been at the sheriff's throat since before you left, Rafael!" What it was, she had no clue as the sheriff was a good man who'd done a lot of good work. "This isn't for the good of the town! This is you, justifying whatever petty feud to get him fired!"

Rafael's eyes narrowed and darkened in anger. "Now, listen here, young lady. I'm your father and you will address me as such and you will _not _talk to me like that!"

"Or what? You'll lock me up on some trumped-charges?" scoffed Artemis. "And FYI, I'm eighteen now and you gave up your rights to me over a decade ago! I'll address you and talk to you however I darn well see fit! You've never been a dad to me, so I'll be darned if I call you as that anytime soon! You are just _completely _unbelievable!"

"Artemis—"

"You come back here after a decade of no contact and suddenly act like you can interfere in my life and the life of my best friend just because of your stupid badge!" interrupted Artemis. "You claim that you've changed and want to do better by me, but guess what, you will _never _change and even if you could, getting Stiles' dad fired isn't going to win me back! And you know what, you can say you're just doing your job, but you and your job, sucks! So, why don't you just do what you do best and get the heck out of town and go back to where you came from and just disappear for another decade?"

Artemis then paused to take a breath and angrily glare at her father just as Melissa entered the room with a concerned look on her face.

"I heard yelling. What's going on?" asked Melissa.

"Rafael's investigating the sheriff, trying to get him fired," said Artemis.

Melissa looked outraged. "You're _what?! _Rafael, how could you? I knew you were capable of a lot of things, but stooping this low wasn't one of them! You're so ticked off that you'd really get him fired just to satisfy your anger?"

Rafael looked both irritated and at a loss for words. "I'm not doing this to hurt anyone or quench my anger. I'm just doing my job! Stilinski's lack of resolution and ability to close cases is what's going to get him fired, not me. I'm just here to collect information. It's the job my superiors have given me."

"Your job sucks," said Melissa, echoing Artemis's earlier opinion.

Artemis clenched her hand into a fist and then forced herself to try and calm down. "Mom, I'm sorry, but I can't be here for dinner tonight. I'm going out. Don't wait up."

Melissa just nodded, as she'd seen the anger in her daughter's eyes and knew how badly Artemis needed to get out of the house.

So, without further ado, Artemis left the house, slamming the door behind her as she did so.

XXX

That night, Artemis decided to continue the search for Malia's body. She called Derek and Stiles to help her search and had the rest of the pack do research or search elsewhere as the less people who turned up results meant less unneeded and unwanted questions from the police.

"You know, if my dad's right, then it means there's another werewolf in town. One we haven't met yet," said Stiles, as they walked through the woods.

"That thought had crossed our minds, yes," said Artemis, as she checked the map on her cellphone. "But I think we can probably handle it."

"Glad you're so confident," said Stiles. "But seriously, if it turns out to be something like triplets who form into a three-headed hound of perdition, I am really not up for it."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Would you relax? We'll be fine. You've got two Alphas right next to you and we can always howl for backup."

"Yeah, I know," said Stiles. He tried to relax, but at the sound of a coyote howling, Stiles ended up knocking into Artemis on accident in fright, causing her to fall down a hill and next to some large rocks. Stiles looked apologetic. "Sorry. My bad."

Derek just glared as he quickly went down and helped Artemis to stand up. Aside from some bumps and bruises, she was fine and even those were quickly healing.

"It's okay, Stiles," said Artemis. She checked the map again. "We're close. Should just be a few feet away from here."

They walked a few more feet and then came upon the scene of the car crash. The car was still there, upside-down, marked by animals and overrun by nature.

"Holy cow," murmured Artemis. "I'm surprised they didn't move it. Isn't it evidence?"

"Yeah, but it's probably too big a pain to tow it," said Stiles. He aimed his flashlight at the claw marks on the car door. "Guys, look at these. If a normal animal had made these marks, wouldn't they be closer together?"

"A _lot _closer," said Derek, frowning as he ran his hand over the claw marks. "It looks like your dad was right. This wasn't an animal attack."

"But if it was a werewolf, why don't I smell one?" asked Artemis. Werewolf scent stuck out like a sore thumb. But Artemis didn't smell any besides that of herself and Derek.

"I don't know, but I don't like this," said Derek.

Stiles was quiet as he looked inside the car and pulled out a doll. It was the same one from the photo of Malia and her sister. It wasn't in perfect condition, but it was in better health than expected and its batteries were still working. The doll then talked.

"_I'm hungry_," said the doll, in a soft electronic voice.

Stiles let out a girly shriek as he dropped the doll.

"I _hate _talking dolls. They're creepy! Remember that episode of _Twilight Zone_?" said Stiles.

Artemis rolled her eyes. After everything they'd faced in the last year, _that _was what bothered him? Really? But they didn't have time to deal with that at the moment. They had much bigger issues at hand.

"Just put the doll back and let's get on with this," said Artemis. "We're burning moonlight."

Just then, a growling sound caused them to look up and spot a large female coyote. It was snarling and growling at them, signaling its anger. But that wasn't the strange thing. Its eyes had a strange blue tint to them.

Without thinking, Artemis then shifted and chased after the coyote as it took off. Since her ascension from Beta to True Alpha, Artemis's powers had expanded and she was now capable of choosing what wolf form she wanted, be it the one she was accustomed to, a humanoid wolf like Peter or even a wolf form like that of Talia Hale's. At that moment, Artemis was a great, big dark brown wolf with glowing red eyes. It was quite a fearsome sight.

Artemis chased the coyote for what seemed like many, many miles until they finally jumped over a large chasm and landed on the other side. It was then that Artemis and the coyote's eyes were locked onto each other and Artemis saw that the coyote's eyes were glowing bright blue just Jackson and Peter's. Suddenly, Artemis understood what had happened that night of the car crash and she shifted back into human form so that she might voice her suspicions as she could not speak English while in her wolf form.

"Malia?" gasped Artemis. "Malia Tate, is that you?"

The coyote nodded, confirming Artemis's suspicion and then took off into the night.

Now Artemis knew why Malia's body was never found. It was because there wasn't a dead body to be found. There was no werewolf involved and Malia hadn't been carried off by a coyote. She _was _the coyote, more specifically, she was a werecoyote.

Oh, this was going to be a long night.


	2. More Bad Than Good

**More Bad Than Good**

Artemis raced through the woods in her wolf form.

When Malia had run off, Artemis had tried to follow her, but had lost track instead. So, she'd run back to inform Derek and Stiles of what she'd found and now they along with the rest of the pack that were out, were searching high and low through the woods for Malia. So far, their search was proving to be fruitless.

Artemis then ran into Stiles and Derek and accidentally pinned them down in the process, causing Stiles to scream and Derek to feel slightly frightened.

"Guys, it's just me!" said Artemis, after she'd reverted back to human form. She quickly got off them and onto her feet. "Relax!"

"Can I help it if I find your wolf form terrifying?" said Stiles, shuddering. "Sheesh!"

"Enough, Stiles," said Derek. He looked quite serious. "We didn't find Malia, but we did find something else. Come and take a look."

Artemis followed her mate and best friend to a small cave, easily unnoticed due to the large boulders and small size of the entrance that was mostly covered by foliage. It was a coyote's den. More specifically, it was Malia's den. It was barely big enough for them to squeeze into, even when they were on their knees and crawling like children.

"Holy crap," murmured Artemis. "We just found a werecoyote's den." She still couldn't believe Malia was actually a werecoyote. First there was Kali's ghost and now a werecoyote. The day was full of great surprises.

Inside the den was a small nest of grass and dried plants where Malia obviously slept, small dried animal bones from her previous meals, her old teddy bear and her old blue coat, which was stained.

"That's Malia's coat. It's the same one from the photograph, remember?" said Stiles.

"Yeah," said Derek. He suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Guys, we shouldn't be here."

"Why not?" asked Stiles.

"This is Malia's home, her territory. We just invaded it. She's not going to come back here, especially since now our scents are all over the place," explained Derek. He knew quite a bit about territory. Once Kate had invaded his old home, he hadn't gone back until she'd captured him.

"Well, if she's not going to come back here, then where's she going to go?"

"I don't know, but Derek's right. We need to get out of here," said Artemis. Without waiting for a reply, she left the den and then they followed.

"Can you guys track her now that you've got her scent?" asked Stiles.

"Probably, but we're going to need some help," said Derek.

"From who? Artemis's boss?"

"Not just him," said Artemis. She smiled. "I don't know about you, but I think this qualifies as a crime scene. I think it's time to call the police, don't you?"

Stiles nodded and then called his father.

XXX

Some time later, Artemis, Derek and Stiles were waiting by the sheriff's car while he and the rest of the force searched the area for anything they could use in the search for Malia. If anyone asked, the story was that Artemis had been on a walk with her boyfriend and best friend and had accidentally stumbled upon the coyote den, which wasn't a _complete _lie.

Soon, Sheriff Stilinski came up to them, carrying Malia's coat in his hand. "Guys, I know you already explained to me, but I need to go over it one more time. You're _sure _it was Malia you saw?"

"Positive," said Artemis. "I looked her right in the eyes. They glowed bright blue, just like Peter and Jackson's. _And _she also nodded in confirmation when I asked her. It wasn't a normal coyote. It was Malia." It sounded crazy when said aloud, but it was the truth.

"It makes sense, Dad," said Stiles.

"But it wasn't a girl. It was a four-legged coyote," hissed Sheriff Stilinski.

Derek shot the sheriff an exasperated look. "Yes, but that's not the point. Some shape-shifters can transform into an actual animal. My mother did it, Huntress can do it and apparently so can Malia. But in her case, she's been like this for the last eight years."

Sheriff Stilinski looked surprised. "You're serious? That's actually possible? How?"

"Think of it as something similar to hysterical blindness," said Artemis. They'd already given their theory a great deal of thought and the conclusion made perfect sense. "The accident happened on the full moon, right? It was probably Malia's first full moon and the first full moon for a shape-shifter is the worst one because you can't control your inner beast, even if you're born that way. Anything could've happened."

"_Horrible _things could've happened," added Stiles, not wanting to be left out of the grand explanation. "Ripping, shredding, tearing things, which is probably what caused the accident."

"From what we've been able to learn, it was Malia's first full moon. She must've changed while her mother was driving and she lost control. Her mother crashed the car, which killed both her and Malia's sister. But Malia didn't die because she healed just like the rest of us and she didn't change back because the trauma and guilt caused her to not only fully change into a coyote, but also remain one all this time. That's why no one ever found her," said Derek.

Sheriff Stilinski didn't look happy to hear this. "That's so insane, it actually makes sense to me. But it's insane! Do you hear me? It sounds like something out of a Chinese folktale! It's _insane!_"

"We _know_ it's insane, Sheriff. Welcome to my world. This is how my life has been for over a year now," said Artemis. She understood the sheriff's feelings as it had taken her time to adjust to the insanity that was her new life as a lycanthrope. "But like it or not, it's the truth."

Sheriff Stilinski sighed. "_Please _tell me there's a way to change her back. I can't tell people, especially not Malia's father that his daughter's a freaking werecoyote!"

"There is a way. Some Alphas can force a shape-shifter to change into their animal form or into their human form, but there's a catch," said Artemis. "We have to find her, first. If she's not in close range, we can't do it." And even then, there wasn't a guarantee it would work as neither she nor Derek had ever performed such a feat before.

"Swell," muttered Sheriff Stilinski. He then looked stern. "Look, I need this kept quiet. It doesn't go beyond your pack, got it? I don't want Mr. Tate finding out about this!"

All three of them nodded. They all felt a stab of irritation at the sheriff's orders as they knew better than anyone of the consequences of making their information known to normal humans and didn't need to be told again, but out of respect for Sheriff Stilinski, they held their tongues. And regardless, he was right. They had to keep their knowledge in a small circle. Otherwise, the situation would only get worse.

Suddenly, Artemis's ears perked up when she heard the sound of another car approaching. She turned and scowled when she saw the owner of the vehicle.

"Dang it," she muttered. "Rafael's here."

Rafael's presence at the crime scene was bad enough, but he'd made things worse as he had brought Mr. Tate along with him. The others seemed to share Artemis's feelings for there were looks of anger and grimaces on their faces.

"What the heck's he doing here?" demanded Derek.

"He's a paranoid FBI agent. He must've heard it on the police scanner and decided to come by and investigate," said Artemis. "He's not going to be happy when he sees us here."

"Because he's your father and doesn't like civilians around crime scenes?"

"No, because I did some pretty serious yelling and I also slapped him pretty hard when I confronted him about the impeachment case earlier tonight," she admitted. "See those bruises on his face? They're my doing."

Sheriff Stilinski's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline while Stiles and Derek just looked impressed at Artemis's tale. However, all four of them quickly fell silent and looked calm and composed when Mr. Tate and Rafael approached them.

"Mr. Tate," said Sheriff Stilinski, respectfully.

Mr. Tate didn't reply. His gaze fell upon his oldest daughter's coat, which was in the sheriff's hand and immediately, he became pale and looked to be on the verge of tears as he took the coat and looked it over.

"It's hers," said Mr. Tate, as his voice cracked. "It's Malia's."

Sheriff Stilinski sighed again. "You three wait here."

No one protested, but Artemis shot a glare at her father. She couldn't believe he was heartless enough to bring Malia's father there and hurt him like that.

"You can glare at me all you like, Artemis, but it changes nothing," said Rafael, coldly. "You and I _will_ talk later. And when we do, I'd love to hear how your mother's okay with you running out in the woods this late on school nights with your delinquent friend and your disreputable boyfriend, even if you are of adult age."

Artemis opened her mouth to speak in outrage, but Derek beat her to the punch.

Derek got right up in Rafael's face and glared at him. "Now you listen to me, you pompous buffoon, Artemis doesn't need any kind of approval from the man who not only abandoned her and drove her sister away, but also made her feel unloved and unwelcome in her own house! Artemis doesn't need that kind of crap in her life! You may have created her, but you're _not _her family. So, why don't you keep your self-righteous opinions to yourself and get lost?"

"Derek, that's enough!" said Artemis. She pulled him back when she saw Rafael pull back his coat, revealing his gun in its holster and his darken with anger as he glared at Derek.

"She's right. Now, as I said, you three stay here. Special Agent Moon, come with me," said Sheriff Stilinski.

Without waiting for a reply, Sheriff Stilinski began walking away and then Rafael followed.

Stiles whistled low. "Well, that went well. I'm surprised you didn't wolf out on him."

"Don't tempt me," muttered Derek.

Artemis slid her hand into Derek's and intertwined their fingers. "Thanks for sticking up for me, Derek." She felt quite proud at seeing Derek stand up to her father like that.

Derek smiled and tightened his grip on her hand. "My pleasure, Huntress."

"Not to be rude or anything, but shouldn't you guys focus in on what they're saying so we know what's going on?" said Stiles.

Knowing Stiles was right, Artemis and Derek nodded. Artemis then blocked out all other sounds and listened in Sheriff Stilinski and Rafael's conversation. From what she could hear, there was a lot of tension and anger between them.

"What the heck are you doing, bringing him here?" demanded Sheriff Stilinski.

"I'm getting confirmation on more than a more than significant lead and starting to understand why your department can't close cases," snapped Rafael. "And explain why my daughter shows so little respect to authority and her poor choice in company."

"Don't talk about my son that way! He's a fine young man!" growled Sheriff Stilinski. "And Derek Hale was only defending Artemis because he loves her and he's protective of her! And as for this crime scene, you might've noticed that there's neither a body nor any remains to identify!"

Rafael ignored Sheriff Stilinski's comments about Stiles and Derek. "There's no body or any remains to be found yet, but do a little digging and I'm sure you'll uncover something. Like the bones of a nine-year-old girl."

There was then the sound of footsteps, signaling that they were now turning around and headed back.

"I think you'll find it's just a little more complicated than that, Special Agent!" said Sheriff Stilinski. The way he said Rafael's title sounded as though he was forcing himself to be polite.

"Come on, Stilinski! You know how this goes!" said Rafael, in exasperation. "It's the not knowing that ruins people like Tate. The truth, no matter how profoundly it sucks, is _always _better than not knowing! I know exactly what Tate's going through. I went through the same thing when Kalika ran away." Rafael's voice became cracked and he actually sounded sad. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even you. So, trust me when I say that I know what I'm doing."

Sheriff Stilinski made no reply as he followed Rafael back to the police cars.

Rafael didn't get his chance to speak privately with Artemis due to the late hour and it being a school night. Instead, he collected Artemis's statement along with Stiles and Derek's and had them sent home to get some sleep once it was done.

XXX

At school the following day, the pack met up one of the halls to talk about the previous night's occurrences and discuss a plan of some sort.

"Okay, this was where we found Malia's den. It's right along the hiking trails," said Stiles.

"That'll narrow down the search. Coyotes travel on fixed trails," said Cora. "But I also think you're right about her not going back to the den. Coyotes don't like wolves and they know how to avoid being heard. They literally walk on their toes." Having done quite a bit of traveling, Cora knew a fair amount about animals and their habits.

Stiles looked surprised. "Coyotes tiptoe?"

Cora nodded. "Quite smart for a scavenger, if you ask me."

"Apparently," said Jackson.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling for students to get to their classes. Stiles and Artemis went to their history class while the others went elsewhere.

Artemis was about to sit down in her usual seat when Kira suddenly popped up out of nowhere, looking a bit shy as well as excited.

"Artemis. Hi!" said Kira.

"Kira. Hey," said Artemis, smiling. "You look excited. What's up?"

"I have something for you," said Kira. She slid off her backpack and began looking through it.

"For me?" said Artemis, surprised. She hadn't expected this as she'd only just because friends with the girl and it wasn't her birthday or any other gift-giving holiday.

"Yeah. It's about the Bardo," said Kira. "My explanation last week was sort of all over the place, so I did some research and printed it out for you."

"Really? Wow. Thanks. But you didn't have to do that," said Artemis. She appreciated Kira's efforts, but she didn't need the Bardo information and she felt a twinge of guilt that Kira had gone to so much trouble for her.

Kira apparently didn't think it was a lot of trouble. "It only took a couple of hours."

Artemis forced herself not to wince. Now she _really _felt bad.

Kira looked worried when she didn't find her papers. "I could've sworn I put it in here."

"Kira!" said Mr. Yukimura, startling them. He was holding up a thick bunch of papers. "You forgot all the research you did for that girl you admire."

Kira's jaw dropped and her face turned red in embarrassment as she took the papers and then handed them to Artemis in an automaton-like state.

Artemis smiled softly as she accepted the papers. "I really do appreciate this, Kira. Thanks." Even if she didn't need it now, it might prove useful in the future and if not then at least it would be an interesting read.

Kira smiled back. "You're Welcome. Want to sit with me?"

Artemis nodded and then they took seats next to each other just as Mr. Yukimura began his lesson for the day.

"All right, everyone. Let's get started. We were just talking about internment camps and prisoners of war in World War Two," he said. "There's a passage in our reading that I'd like to go over in more detail. Who would like to come up and read for us?" He glanced over the classroom when no one volunteered. "Mr. Stilinski. How about you?"

Artemis frowned in puzzlement when she saw Stiles hesitate, which was odd considering he normally had no problem getting up before the class to read from a textbook or do a demonstration on the chalkboard. What happened next, she wasn't expecting at all. No sooner had Stiles gotten up and tried to read, he became pale, dropped the book and began breathing rather hard and loudly. He also looked like he was about to faint.

Artemis quickly realized what was happening. "Mr. Yukimura, he's having a panic attack! Can I take him to the nurse?"

Mr. Yukimura, who also looked worried, nodded and then Artemis wasted no time in getting out of her seat and taking Stiles to the single-stall bathroom. Once inside, she locked the door to give them some privacy and then began to fish out her key ring's pill container which held her anxiety pills so she could administer one to Stiles. Before she could do so, however, Stiles' condition quickly worsened.

"Stiles, look at me! What's happening?" She'd never seen a panic attack this bad. It scared her.

Stiles' paleness had increased and he was gripping the bathroom sink hard as he breathed hard.

"It's a dream. It's just a dream," he kept muttering. "This is just a dream!"

"No, it's not!" said Artemis. She was feeling considerably worried and scared now. She'd never seen Stiles this bad. "This is real. You're here. You're here with me."

Stiles made no reply.

Artemis racked her brain for a way to prove to Stiles he wasn't dreaming. She soon found one. "Okay. Stiles, look at me!" When he looked at her, she held up her clenched fists. "Remember what you told me about how to tell the difference between a dream and reality? You count your fingers. So, look at my hands and count with me." She held up a finger. "One."

She held up another.

"Two…" said Stiles.

"Good. Keep going!" She held up another. "Three…"

This went on until Stiles got up to ten fingers and then Stiles finally believed he was awake and not dreaming. By then, his breathing had slowed and he was calm enough to take an anxiety pill and wash it down by sticking his head under the bathroom faucet for water. Afterwards, tears slid down his cheeks and he looked miserable as he sank to the floor.

"Stiles, hey," said Artemis. She knelt down beside him and took his hand. "Look at me. I'm here. I won't leave you. It's going to be okay. Talk to me. What's going on?"

Stiles' grip on her hand tightened and he cast a desperate look at her. "I'm scared, Arty. I'm really scared," he confessed. "I haven't been honest with you about what's wrong with me."

"What're you talking about?"

Stiles sighed. "Ever since that night at the Nemeton, I've been a mess. My nightmares are really, really bad. Remember all that sleep paralysis stuff I was telling you about? It's happening to me too, except it's a lot more terrifying. I keep having insomnia and sometimes I see things that aren't real. And if that's not bad enough, I'm having trouble reading. I can't seem to make sense of the words or put the letters in the right order. I feel like I'm losing my mind."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Artemis, softly.

She was worried about what this would mean. Kira's research might come in handy after all, and she didn't like that. But she also couldn't help wondering why Stiles had kept this from her and the others in the first place.

Stiles looked down. "I don't know. I guess…I guess I thought I could handle this on my own. But clearly, I can't. And…well…you keep putting everyone else's needs and problems before your own and I wanted to try and focus on you for once. It seemed like you had enough to deal with, with your dad, the True Alpha business and Kali without me adding to it and I also felt like my problems were pretty insignificant compared to yours.

Tears pooled in Artemis's eyes and she felt a stab of guilt. She was a horrible best friend. What kind of a friend was she to have been so caught up in her own problems that she hadn't noticed that her best friend was suffering so much and feeling this way? She resolved to end that then and there.

"Stiles, look at me and listen to me very carefully," said Artemis. When he finally looked up at her, she continued. "You're my best friend and my brother in every way that matters most. I know you were trying to look out for me, but no matter what I'm going through, I _always _want to know what's going on with you. Family don't end in blood, remember? Your problems will _never _be insignificant. And I'm so, so sorry that I made you feel like that and I'm also sorry for being so incredibly blind."

"It's not your fault, Arty. You didn't make me feel like anything, it was just my stressed out brain talking. And don't blame yourself for not noticing. I'm just good at hiding stuff. My dad doesn't even know about most of this stuff," admitted Stiles. He sighed again. "Do you ever feel like we can't help people like Malia or stop whatever's out there?"

"More times than I count," she admitted. There'd been many times over the past year when she'd felt helpless, particularly during the times when all seemed hopeless. "But we can't give up. We have to keep trying. And whatever's going on with you, we'll figure it out and deal with it together just like we always do. You don't need to be able to read to be smart because you already are. You're the one who figures things out. You _always _figure things out. And you know what? You're not alone in this. I'm here for you and so is everyone else who cares about you. Is there anything I can do for you now, Stiles? Anything at all?"

Stiles smiled a little but then looked a bit pleading. "Hold me."

Artemis didn't hesitate to do as he asked. She took Stiles into her arms and held him tight. She had no intention of breaking apart from him until he wished it. As they held each other close, Artemis couldn't help but wonder if this was what Kali had meant. Was Stiles the friend she wasn't supposed to give up on? Artemis wouldn't give up on Stiles, warning or no warning, but if it was him that Kali had meant, what did that mean for what was to come?

XXX

Meanwhile, Mr. Yukimura's class had proceeded without Artemis and Stiles. Neither of them had returned to class during the remaining time period and in their haste to leave, they'd forgotten their backpacks. As Kira headed out, she noticed their backpacks still sitting by their desks and decided she'd hunt her friends down to return them.

Most of the halls were deserted due to the time of day, for which Kira was grateful as she wanted time alone to think and compose herself. Kira felt embarrassed that her dad had blurted out that Kira admired Artemis. It was true that Kira had come to admire Artemis after hearing of the girl's record of being the first female co-captain of the lacrosse team, popular, beauty and confidant. But that didn't mean Kira had wanted Artemis to find out like that.

Kira considered herself lucky that Artemis had been the one to extend the hand of friendship first, especially after her dad's humiliating introduction. But nevertheless she was glad as she'd been trying to pluck up the courage to speak with Artemis and had failed miserably due to her shyness. She just hoped Artemis would keep being friends despite her father's lack of tact. And far more importantly, Kira hoped that Stiles was going to be okay. He hadn't looked well at all.

At that moment, she was almost to the nurse's office where she'd thought they'd be, when she spotted a coyote standing at the top of the stairs, glaring and snarling at her.

"Oh, crap," murmured Kira.

Terrified, she quickly ran into the nearest room, which was the locker room for the lacrosse team, closed and locked the door, dropped the bags she was carrying and searched for a place to hide. She ended up hiding behind the row of lockers and praying the beast wouldn't get in, but it did little good as the coyote broke through the glass on the door and entered the room.

Kira struggled to stay calm and slow down her rapid breathing as she listened for sounds of the coyote so that she might learn its whereabouts. She cringed in fear when she heard the sound of the coyote growling and then tearing into something. It made her worry she was about to become the beast's next meal. Deciding she needed to try and get out while she had the chance, Kira rose up from where she'd been crouching and began to back up, only to nearly scream and jump in fright when a hand was placed on her shoulder.

Kira relaxed when she saw it was just Artemis, looking all serious and prepared. Artemis held a finger to her lips, signaling for Kira to be quiet. Artemis then appeared to be looking for the beast and listening carefully to her surroundings and after a moment, she knocked over the row of lockers like a stack of dominos. The noise and the falling school property scared off the coyote, causing it to run out of the locker room and back into the woods.

"It's okay. It's gone," said Artemis, after a moment's silence.

Kira heaved a sigh of relief and gave Artemis a look of gratitude. "Thank you. I thought I was going to be that thing's next meal."

"No problem," said Artemis.

"But how'd you even know I was here? Weren't you and Stiles in the nurse's office?"

Artemis looked a bit sheepish and shook her head. "I didn't take Stiles to the nurse's office. There's a single-stall bathroom near here. I took him there for some privacy. It's better to be alone when he's having a panic attack. Anyway, it's right next to this room and I saw you running in here and heard the coyote. I figured there was trouble, so I came to help."

"Well, I'm glad you did," said Kira. She didn't want to think about what might've happened if Artemis hadn't shown up when she did.

"Me too. You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No. That's the weird part. It chased me in here, but once it was inside, it only went after Stiles' backpack," said Kira, pointing to the torn black bag on the floor. "You guys left them behind in class. I was trying to return them to you."

Artemis frowned in confusion. "Wait, it went after Stiles' bag? Why would it go after that?" But when she looked at Stiles' backpack and saw the doll peering through the claw marks, she looked furious and perhaps Kira's eyes were playing tricks on her, but she could've sworn Artemis's eyes had briefly changed from brown to bright red.

XXX

Meanwhile, down in South America, the infamous Peter Hale, who was supposed to be on a walkabout after the confrontation of his now deceased ex-girlfriend, the Darach Jennifer Blake, had gotten himself into a world of trouble. And it wasn't even his fault.

While checking in with Derek as per their agreement, Peter had let slip that he was headed to South America and upon hearing this, Derek had requested a favor. Peter had agreed as it wasn't out of his way and he was planning on returning to Beacon Hills soon anyhow. But it was while Peter was trying to collect the object Derek requested that Peter had gotten himself captured by South American hunters known as the Calavero family. They made the Argents look like saints when it came to their hunting methods. And Peter hadn't even meant to get captured. Was it his fault he didn't know Derek's desired object was in their territory?

For the past day or so, they'd been interrogating him for information on the whereabouts of "la loba," whatever _that _meant, and Peter was getting pretty tired of it.

At that moment, Severo, the Calavero family's second-in-command, had Peter shackled to a chain link fence in the basement and kept zapping him with an electric generator. He reminded Peter strongly of the late Kate Argent, which was _not _a good thing.

"You see this equipment, mutt? It's very old—so much that the settings aren't quite accurate anymore," said Severo. "So, it's hard to tell how far to turn the dial."

"I think it's a little high," said Peter, sarcastically. He had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from screaming. It was bad luck on Peter's part that pain kept werewolves from shifting, otherwise he would've dealt with Severo already.

Severo ignored him. "If I were to tell you what I've seen happen to the wolves we've used this on, you would have nightmares for the rest of your pathetic life."

Peter snorted. "I sincerely doubt that."

Severo laughed as he switched off the equipment, finally allowing Peter a moment to heal and catch his breath.

"Well, your doubts are not my own," he said. "Such as I don't doubt that I'll finally get you to answer the question truthfully and willingly before the boss decides to put you down like the dog you are. So, why don't you just spare yourself some pain and tell me, where is _la loba_?"

Peter gritted his teeth. "How many times do I have to say it? I don't know what a '_la loba_' is, much less where to find one!"

Severo didn't believe him. "No? Why don't we try a different method of persuasion? No more with the electricity. Instead, we'll test how far your little healing trick goes and then maybe you'll finally tell me where _la loba _is."

Peter found himself gulping in fright but then he relaxed a little when an older woman's voice was heard, causing Severo to respectfully back away. Peter didn't understand what she was saying as the woman was speaking Spanish, but she soon ceased this and spoke in English when she came into view. The woman was Araya Calavero, the matriarch of the Calavero family and the one whose reputation was feared among all werewolves. She had the look of a grandmother who'd gone crazy and enjoyed her work and had a sickening smile on her face, similar to that of the Joker's, something that inspired fear even in most experienced hunters.

"I don't speak Spanish. So, whatever it is you're trying to say to me, you might as well save your breath," said Peter.

Araya laughed. "I'm well aware of your skills, Peter Hale."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Mind telling me how the heck you know me?"

"You mean, besides that of your reputation? It's quite simple. You see, Peter, the eldest of the Moon sisters once crossed our path and she did us a great favor that earned one from us. She told us about you," said Araya.

_The eldest of the Moon sisters?_ Peter quickly realized what she meant.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me. Kali Moon ran into you nutjobs and you let her walk free? What'd she do to get you on her side?" demanded Peter. The Calaveros weren't known for their mercy. They rarely left a werewolf alive if it crossed them. Heck, he'd never even heard of one granting a favor to a werewolf, especially not one like Kali.

"Enough that I do not regret letting her go and nor do I have a problem doing as she asked," said Araya. She might not have liked werewolves, but Araya always paid her debts as she was a woman of honor and she stuck to the code. "All Kali wanted from us was our word that we not harm her sister or her sister's pack should we ever encounter them and if we ever came across you, we would deal with you ourselves. Considering your reputation, we could not possibly refuse."

"Great," muttered Peter. Even when dead, Kali was still out for his head. What did he do to deserve such a fate? "But you know, for all intents and purposes I am in her sister's pack. So, you're violating the terms of the agreement."

Araya laughed. "You're not part of the pack, not really. You're just an Omega. Pack mates are protected, trusted and loved by their kind. You aren't. Therefore, I am honoring my word."

Peter had to admit she was right. He didn't really belong to any pack. Not in that sense. "So, what is it you want with me?"

"Haven't we made that clear by now? We want to know where _la-loba, _the she-wolf is," said Araya. "You know who we're talking about."

"Maybe, here's the thing: I know several she-wolves. Which one do you mean?" asked Peter. For once, he wasn't being snarky or sarcastic. He honestly didn't know which she-wolf they were talking about. How could he when they wouldn't even give her name?

"The one you turned," said Araya.

Peter frowned in confusion. "Artemis? You can't be serious. She hasn't killed anyone. What'd she do to get on your bad side?" As far as he knew, Artemis's record was still clean.

Araya laughed. "Artemis Moon? That little girl? It's not her we're after. And besides, she's off-limits as I promised her sister. No. We're looking for the other one you turned."

Now Peter was really confused. "I don't know what you're talking about. Artemis was the only one that I bit, the only girl I ever turned." Granted he'd forced Lydia's banshee powers to manifest but that didn't count. Artemis was the only one he'd ever turned into a werewolf. Well, not unless you counted giving Jackson werewolf venom to trigger the change, but Jackson was a male.

Araya's eyes became cold and her expression angry. "You cannot possibly be this stupid! You _know _there's more than one way to turn a human besides that of the bite!"

"I am aware, yes. You either bite them or inject werewolf venom into their system," said Peter, agitated. "But I repeat: Artemis Moon was the only girl I ever turned. And I know I've got a rep for being a liar, but in this case, _I'm not lying. _So, maybe you should believe me when I say, I don't know what the devil you're talking about!"

Araya didn't believe him. She just continued with the interrogation for another half an hour before leaving Peter alone with someone to guard him to give him time to heal before starting all over again. She was determined to learn the location of the other female Peter had turned, no matter what Peter said or did. She was convinced he was lying and needed persuasion before being honest, which was bad for Peter.

Peter used the downtime to get a bit of sleep as he hadn't had any proper rest in a number of days. He was having a rather nice dream when the sound of footsteps woke him up. He cast his gaze upwards and heard the sounds of a fight taking place and then all fell silent.

Suddenly, the door was broken down and a dark girl that looked not much older than Artemis, with scars in the shape of claw marks on the left side of her face and neck came into the room. She kicked the guard's butt both with hand-to-hand combat and by disarming him and hitting him with his own gun.

Due to his digging around in Isaac's mind all that time ago, Peter immediately recognized the girl but nevertheless he was surprised to see her and even more so to see her come to his rescue.

"You're Braeden. The girl who was sent to rescue Isaac," said Peter.

"I was _hired _to rescue Isaac," she corrected, as she put down the gun and began freeing Peter. "But while Morrell paid me for my time, she needn't have. Once she told me about the True Alpha, I had no problems stepping in to interfere in Deucalion's plans."

Great. A mercenary for the supernatural. Just perfect.

"Someone actually hired and paid you to rescue me?" said Peter, in disbelief. He didn't think it was Derek or the others in his pack as Peter still had a bit of time before anyone would realize he was M.I.A. "Who? And dare I also ask how you're here? We were pretty sure you'd died when you didn't come back after your little warning."

Braeden smirked. "I'm hard to kill, you may have noticed. And my employer is Deucalion."

Peter scoffed in disbelief. "Seriously? You're working for Deucalion, the lunatic who did _that _to you?" Granted Artemis had been forced to work with him sometimes despite her feelings of disdain and distrust for him after all the crap he'd done, but personally Peter felt that working for the Demon Wolf was a bit much. Especially since Deucalion was the one who'd scarred Braeden's face and neck.

Braeden scowled at him. "Instead of insulting the one who's paying me to save your butt, how about you show some gratitude and respect? It's because he's paying me so well that I'm even here. Otherwise, I'd have no problem leaving you here for the Calaveros to deal with."

"Fine. I take it back," grumbled Peter, as he rubbed his now free wrists. "I'll be nice." The things he had to do to survive.

"Good. Now, let's get the heck out of here," said Braeden. She picked up the gun again.

Peter shook his head. "Much as I would love to, no. I'm not leaving here without it."

"Without what?" demanded Braeden.

"What Derek sent me here for. Come on. It's this way," said Peter, as he led her out of the room and to his intended destination. It was crazy to do this, he didn't deny that, but he was not going back to Beacon Hills empty-handed, especially not after all the trouble he'd gone through.

They eventually came upon a large wooden chest that was locked. Peter tried to touch the chest and break the lock, only to pull back his hand and scowl.

"It's made from the wood of the rowan tree, it's mountain ash," said Peter, annoyed. Of course Derek hadn't warned him. So much distrust. What he had he done to deserve such treatment? "I don't supposed you'd mind opening the box for me, please?"

Braeden rolled her eyes but she did as asked. She got the box open and then ended up digging through its contents, which consisted mainly of the biggest pile of mountain ash that Peter had ever seen, (someone _really _didn't want his hands in that box) and ended up pulling out a round container that was marked with the triskele, the same mark that was tattooed on the back of Derek's neck.

"Is this what you're looking for?" asked Braeden.

Peter nodded. "It's what Derek wanted, yes." Peter had no idea what was in the box. "Now, would you mind giving me a lift to Beacon Hills? I'll pay you for your time."

Naturally, Braeden agreed, but only because Peter had offered to pay her.

XXX

At the school, the police and animal control had been called and notified of the coyote attack on Kira. The authorities were swarming the place but so far there was no sign of Malia. Several students had reported seeing the coyote take off and run back into the woods, which came as no surprise given how Artemis had frightened her, but the situation was worse now. No one was hurt, but nw that Malia had come close to attacking a student, animal control would most likely put her down if they caught her because as far as they knew, she was just a savage beast.

Artemis was waiting patiently in the locker room with Kira for Stiles to finish talking with the sheriff so that she could speak with him. She had a bone to pick with him.

"Hey," said Stiles, as he came into the room. He pulled Artemis aside and began whispering to avoid being overheard. "So, what's going on? Why'd she come here?"

"It's a bit obvious why she came here. Look at what's in your bag," said Artemis. She held up Stiles' backpack and took out the doll, causing Stiles to look a bit sheepish. "Stiles, why on _earth _did you take the doll from the car wreck?"

"I, uh, I thought you could use it to track Malia's scent," said Stiles.

Artemis let out a growl of exasperation. "Stiles, that isn't even Malia's doll! That's her sister's!"

"So?" said Stiles, confused.

"So, did it never occur to you that maybe the doll was left in the car wreck for a reason? Think about it. The car wreck's a grave and you probably just removed the flowers from it!" said Artemis. "Malia must've tracked the scent and came here looking for it to put it back!"

"And you know this how?"

Artemis gave him a frustrated look. "Because, I know how Malia feels and if someone did this to Kali's grave, I'd kill them."

Stiles couldn't tell if Artemis meant it or not, but decided not try and test Artemis's temper.

"Where did you get that? Where did you find this?"

Artemis's heart sank when Mr. Tate came into the locker room, looking worse off than ever as he snatched the doll out of Artemis's hand.

"This is hers," said Mr. Tate, as a tear slid down his cheek. "This is Malia's sister's doll."

It was a true mark of their friendship that Artemis didn't give Stiles a, _I-told-you-so _look.

Sheriff Stilinski quickly took control of the situation and had Mr. Tate escorted off the premises, but not before Mr. Tate swore vengeance on the coyote he believed was responsible for the loss of his family.

"Things just got very bad, didn't they?" said Stiles.

Artemis nodded. "Malia's still looking for the doll that's now in her father's possession and he's just sworn vengeance on what he thinks killed his daughter. It's very bad."

And she suspected it was going to get a heck of a lot worse.

XXX

After school, Artemis and the others met up at Dr. Deaton's office to get his help as they were in desperate need of it. Fortunately, as always, Deaton had a solution to their problem.

After going through his supplies, he placed three small containers on the table.

"What is that?" asked Erica.

"It's xylazine, a tranquilizer for horses," said Deaton. "If it's injected into a werecoyote, it'll take effect within seconds. But these three bottles are all I have, so whoever's shooting needs to be a darn good shot."

"I'll do it," offered Alison. "I'm an expert marksman, remember?"

"Good," said Deaton. He handed her the bottles and she pocketed them.

Isaac sighed. "Guys, not to be Mr. Negativity, but there's still a problem. Even if we find her, how're we supposed to turn Malia from a coyote into a girl again when she hasn't been a girl for over eight years?"

"Alphas can force a shape-shifter to shift with a powerful, commanding roar," explained Derek. "Peter did it to Huntress that night at the school and Deucalion did it at the distillery."

Most of the pack looked both impressed and surprised.

"Can you do it, Derek?" asked Boyd.

"I don't know. I've never actually done it before," he admitted.

"So, we've still got a problem then," said Cora, unhappily.

Artemis shook her head. "Not necessarily. I think I can do it."

Everyone stared at her.

"Artemis, that ability takes practice—practice that you haven't had yet and even then, not every Alpha is capable of doing it and more to the point, there's no guarantee it'll work on Malia," said Deaton. He had faith in Artemis's abilities, but she was still an inexperienced wolf and there were some things that were beyond her power.

"Not to sound like a bragger, but I'm not like every Alpha, am I? I'm the True Alpha, which means I can do things that others can't," said Artemis. She'd been thinking about this long and hard and she'd reached her decision. "I know I can do this. Besides, I want to and I feel like it has to be me that does it."

"Why?" asked Stiles.

"I can't explain it. I just do." Artemis didn't know how to explain how she knew she could do it, much less why she felt the need for it to be her that changed Malia back from coyote form to human. She just knew she could do it. Over a year ago, she'd been an ordinary Beta wolf and now she was the True Alpha, and Kali had believed she could be a great one. This was going one of her first tests to prove it, or so she suspected. She also had complete faith in her skills. She just needed to be sure her friends shared in her feelings. "Please, just trust me."

After a quick exchange of looks between her mate and pack mates, everyone quickly said that they trusted Artemis and that was the end of the discussion.

XXX

Early the next morning, everyone met up outside the edge of the woods to begin the search. Artemis had even called in Ethan and Aiden, who'd just returned from their vacation, for backup and they'd agreed without hesitation. Everyone had a job to do and knew what the plan was, but even so, there was unease among them.

"Does anyone feel like we're doing more harm than good here?" asked Lydia, as she got out of Jackson's car.

The looks on some of their faces was all the reply Lydia needed, but Artemis still spoke.

"Look, Lydia, I don't like this anymore than you, but if we don't revert Malia to her human form, she's going to get killed and then Mr. Tate's going to have to live with the pain of killing his own daughter! I'm not going to let that happen," said Artemis.

There were going to be consequences whether they succeeded in their plans, but they had to deal with them and it would be a lot worse if they failed.

They were about to go in and enact their plans, when Stiles' cellphone went off. It was his father. Stiles put it on speaker so everyone could hear it.

"_Guys, there's a problem,_" said Sheriff Stilinski. "_Mr. Tate's gone overboard trying to catch Malia. He's placed dozens of foothold traps out in the woods._"

"Seriously? Has he lost it? Someone could get killed in one of those things!" said Alison.

"_I know. But that's not the worst part,_" said Sheriff Stilinski, grimly. "_Malia broke into the house to get the doll back and she took off. Mr. Tate's going after her with a rifle._"

Derek swore angrily. No one could blame him. This was the last thing they needed right now. "Okay, we'll handle him. Just start working on dismantling as many of those traps as possible and keep the civilians out of the woods."

"_Fine. Just promise me you'll be careful_," said Sheriff Stilinski.

"We will, Dad," promised Stiles. He then hung up the phone. "Now, what do we do?"

"Now, we do what we came here for. Except now, everyone needs to watch out for those traps and the first one to find Tate has to knock him out," said Derek. "But I don't want him to have any serious injuries and nor is there to be any killing of him or Malia." He added that last part while he shot a stern look at the twins, who looked innocently at him.

"Malia's got the doll, so she's probably headed back to the car crash, which means Artemis needs to get their first before Tate finds her and does something stupid," said Jackson. "We need to act quickly, so I suggest we go, _now_."

For once, no one argued with Jackson as he actually acted a bit intelligent and with that, they ran into the woods in sets of twos and threes to enact their plans.

It wasn't long before Mr. Tate entered Alison's field of vision. She hit him with one of the tranquilizers before he shot Malia, who was protectively guarding her little sister's doll. Once he was dealt with, Malia disappeared from Alison's sight and ran off into the woods with the doll in her jaws, intending to return it to the car wreck where it belonged.

Artemis raced through the woods as quickly as she could, trying to get to the car wreck before Malia had a chance to take off again. She arrived just in the nick of time, as Malia had already returned the doll and was prepared to take off again, but Artemis was also ready. She was in her regular wolfed out form and in control as an Alpha.

Artemis then let out a roar so powerful that it caused Malia to shift from coyote form to human. Gone was the coyote of grey, light brown and black fur and glowing blue eyes. In its place was a teenage girl in clothes far too small, covered in dirt with tangled hair and brown eyes.

Malia looked at Artemis with both fear and admiration. "Who…who are you?" Her voice sounded rough from disuse.

"Don't be scared, Malia," said Artemis, soothingly. "My name is Artemis Moon. I'm an Alpha wolf, a werewolf. I'm here to help you." She carefully rose up and placed her jacket on Malia's shivering body. Thankfully, the girl accepted it. "I know what you've been through and I'm sorry that I forced you back into human form as I did, but it was the only way to save your life."

"It's okay," murmured Malia. Tears pooled in her eyes and slid down her cheeks. "But what am I going to do now? My mom, my sister…they're dead because of me. I didn't mean to! I tried so hard to fight it…!"

"It's okay, Malia," soothed Artemis. She stroked the poor girl's hair as Malia buried her face in Artemis's shoulder and cried. "It wasn't your fault. It's going to be okay."

One way or another, Artemis would see through to that.

Malia looked up and stared at Artemis in disbelief. "How can you know that?"

"Because I've been where you are. My sister died because of our world too," said Artemis. Her situation was different from Malia's but the grief and guilt was still the same. "But it will get better. You don't need to be alone anymore. My mate and pack and I will help you in any way we can, if you'll let us. Will you?"

Malia hesitated and then nodded after a moment's pause.

By then, Derek and the others had arrived and they helped Artemis take care of Malia. They were careful not to crowd her and give her the time and care she needed. She was safe, but she had a long road of her but at least she wouldn't be alone anymore, which Malia was grateful for.

XXX

After coming up with a believable story and getting Malia cleaned up and into some better clothes, Malia was returned to her father by Sheriff Stilinski, who was taking full credit for Malia's safe return. Malia and her father shared a tearful, beautiful reunion as a result. Both had missed one another greatly over the last eight years and their reunion was long overdue.

As Malia had only just ceased being a coyote, she needed time to adjust and it was because of that reason that she hadn't yet decided if she wanted to join the pack. However, she was interested in getting to know Stiles as she found him very attractive and the feeling was mutual. Due to this and out of a desire to keep an eye on her just to be on the safe side, Artemis and Derek gave her their contact information as well as Stiles' phone number so that she could get in touch with them at any time and for whatever she might need in the future.

Rafael was still collecting information for an impeachment, but he'd backed off for the time being as even he couldn't deny the great success of Sheriff Stilinski's police work.

All in all, it was satisfying ending to the day and that was the most they could ask for.


	3. Galavanize

**Galvanize **

The autumn day was bright, clear and crisp and it was what students of Beacon Hills referred to as Mischief Day, as it was Coach Finstock's birthday. Every year on Coach Finstock's birthday, the students played numerous pranks on him and then either egged or toilet papered his house on Halloween night when it came. The students loved it, and contrary to what everyone believed, Coach Finstock hated it.

But that was pushed to the back of Artemis's mind as she and Derek rode into the school parking lot. Derek had decided to get his own bike after seeing how much Artemis loved hers. He'd become quite fond of it and often used it to escort her to school or take her out on dates when they weren't using his car.

When they pulled in and got off their bikes, they were met by Ethan and Aiden.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" asked Artemis.

"Can we talk? We need to ask you something," said Aiden.

"So, ask," said Derek. "And be quick."

They were.

"We want to be part of your pack," said Ethan.

Both Derek and Artemis looked surprised.

"Excuse me?" said Derek, narrowing his eyes. "And just why would you want to be part of our pack?" Granted Ethan and Aiden had been helpful both recently and in the past when they were working with Deucalion, but they'd also fought against Derek and had done a lot of terrible things. But on the other hand, he understood why they were looking for a pack to join. Since their fight with Jennifer, they were no longer Alphas and with Deucalion gone, they were just Omegas and therefore not as powerful as they used to be. When those the twins had ticked off found out they didn't have a pack anymore, they were dead meat.

"Because you two are Alphas and a bigger pack will make you stronger and we'd rather be part of your pack than anyone else's," said Aiden. "Especially since your pack has a True Alpha in it. I know we didn't get off on the right foot, but you need to understand, what Deucalion had us do, we only did it because we owed him a debt and we were scared of him."

"And not to mention we've helped you because we wanted to, not because we wanted anything out of it. No one made us help you fight the Darach and we assisted in the business with Malia out of the goodness of our hearts," added Ethan. "Besides, we'll add strength to your pack. There's no reason to say no."

"I can think of several reasons, actually," said Derek, angrily. He still felt ticked off at them for their hand in Boyd, Erica and Cora's kidnapping and imprisonment, locking a claustrophobic Isaac in the janitor's closet, and nearly killing Artemis under Deucalion's orders.

"Derek," said Artemis, warningly, making him fall silent. She understood Derek's feelings and shared in most of them, but at the same time, she couldn't deny the good that twins had done and nor could she forget that they'd forgiven Kali and allowed her to redeem herself. They would be hypocrites if they didn't allow the twins the same mercy. And besides, why couldn't they allow the twins to be like Peter? "Look, guys, this isn't a decision we can just make in a split second. We may be Alphas, but we also need to discuss things with the other Betas of our pack."

"So, you're saying we can't be in your pack?"

Artemis shook her head. "I'm not saying yes or no. I'm suggesting that while Derek and I talk things over, you two go through a trial period." She'd been thinking about it and decided it was the best course of action. "Say, about a month, maybe two. You follow the rules we set down, you don't harass or hurt the other Betas or any of the others, and you try to get along with them if possible. If, during that time period, all goes well, you can stay and you'll be part of the pack. If you do anything that justifies being expelled from the pack, you'll be booted out and that's the end of that. Can all of you work with that?"

Derek didn't look entirely happy about it but he agreed and the twins readily accepted Artemis's terms before promising to make her proud and she wouldn't regret this decision. They then departed for class, leaving Derek and Artemis alone as they walked to the door of the school.

"I cannot believe we just agreed to that," said Derek. "But at the same time, I applaud your diplomacy skills."

"Thanks. But I'm not sure the others will agree with you once they find out about this," said Artemis. She knew she'd done the right thing but she also worried how the rest of her pack would take it. "They're going to hate me for this, aren't they?"

"They're not going to hate you. They might not like your decision but they won't hate you for it," assured Derek. "Besides, Ethan and Aiden are on a trial period, that's all. They're not moving into any of our homes and we don't even need to ask for their help if we don't want it. There's no guarantee that they're going to be officially part of the pack. And another thing, sometimes Alphas have to make hard decisions. It's part of being a leader, which is a role you're doing well in."

Artemis realized Derek was right and accepted this. "There's something else, though. You heard what they said. Part of the reason they want to be part of the pack is because _I'm _in it. Seriously, what is it about me that makes every supernatural creature either out for my head or want to be part of my pack? First Peter decides I'd be the perfect first Beta and he bites me, then Kate wanted me dead, Matt wanted me as his girlfriend, Gerard wanted to use me Deucalion wanted me either in his pack or dead and now Ethan and Aiden want to be part of my pack. What's so special about me?" She hadn't added Derek into the equation as all those other events had only happened within the last year and she'd been close with Derek for much longer.

"I think the question is what _isn't _special about you?" said Derek, smiling. He could list countless reasons why Artemis was special and desirable.

Artemis blushed and smiled back before kissing him. "I love you."

"I love you too," said Derek. He kissed her once more before the bell rang and they went their separate ways for the day.

XXX

During economics class while everyone was waiting for Coach Finstock to come out of his office and begin the day's lesson, there was suddenly the sound of two loud crashes along with Coach Finstock's angry voice yelling, "SON OF A BILGE RAT!"

This was due to the prank Stiles and Artemis had pulled. Late last night, just after midnight, they'd snuck into the school and booby-trapped Coach Finstock's office. It was Stiles' idea. They'd placed numerous screws and nails into a small wrapped box and when Coach Finstock pulled the box off the table, everything in his office came crashing down and then when he sat in his chair, it did the same.

Artemis and Stiles quickly exchanged amused and knowing looks while struggling to control their laughter as Coach Finstock came out of his office, looking livid. Regardless of how ticked off the pranks made him, everyone loved seeing his reactions as they were hilarious and they all enjoyed taking his ego down a few notches.

"Mischief Night! Devil's Night! I don't care _what _you call it!" said Coach Finstock. "You little punks are _evil!_"

Badly stifled laughter went around the classroom at this.

"You think it's _funny _that I get pranked on my birthday every year? That my house gets egged and toilet papered every Halloween?" said Coach Finstock, furiously. "A man's house is supposed to be his castle! Mine's a freaking omelet!"

He continued to rave and rant for another twenty minutes before spotting a present on his desk. Assuming it to be another prank, he smashed it, only to deeply regret that decision when he found the shattered remains of a mug in the box that had his picture on it along with the caption, "_Number Coach_" on it and a birthday card. It was from Greenberg, one of the lacrosse players that the coach frequently picked on despite Greenberg's amount of respect and loyalty to his coach.

Artemis forced herself to hold her tongue during this before turning to glance at Lydia who was checking her reflection in her phone's camera. She then frowned when she noticed Lydia kept swatting at the air.

"Psst!" she whispered, catching Lydia's attention. "What're you doing?"

Lydia looked at her as though she'd lost her marbles or was blind. "There's a fly. It keeps buzzing around my ear. It's annoying."

Artemis's heart sank. _Oh, crap. _Lydia was hearing things no one else could again, which could only mean one thing.

"Lydia…there's no fly," she whispered.

Lydia looked confused and then her eyes widened in fear when she looked around and saw that Artemis was right. There was no fly or any other insect in the room, much less one buzzing around Lydia's ear. She shot Artemis a terrified look. Lydia only heard things when her banshee powers were warning her that someone was going to die and to hear something now meant trouble.

"We'll talk about it later," whispered Artemis.

Artemis felt afraid too, but until they had more information, there was nothing they could do and they were trapped in class at the moment. All they could do for right now was wait, and later collect information before praying they wouldn't fail to save another innocent life.

XXX

Meanwhile, at Derek's loft, he and Peter were meeting to discuss what he'd gone through and Peter was going to finally find out what he'd nearly gotten himself killed for. When Peter told Derek about Braeden and Araya, Derek was quite surprised as he'd thought Braeden was dead and he was stunned to learn that Kali had actually earned a favor from Araya as she wasn't known for being merciful or indebted to werewolves for anything.

Peter hoped that Derek might shed some light on the identity of la loba, but no such luck. Derek was as much in the dark on the subject as Peter because as far as he knew, Artemis was the only she-wolf that Peter had sired. But he wasn't about to look into it as he had more pressing matters to deal with and no time to deal with more of Peter's mistakes. Peter wasn't happy to hear this, but he reluctantly accepted Derek's decision.

"So, are you finally going to tell me what I risked life and limb for?" asked Peter.

"I'm going to show you," said Derek. He picked up the round box and emptied its contents onto the coffee table in the living room. Five werewolf fingernails fell onto the table. "Recognize these? They're my mother's. After the fire, this was all that was left of her."

"Talia," murmured Peter. A hint of grief crossed his features as he held one of the nails and looked it over. Talia hadn't just been Derek and Cora's mother, she had also been Peter's sister. "I can't decide if that's touching or morbid. But I guess the real question is, what're you planning on doing with them? And please tell me it's not what I think it is."

Derek nodded. "I have to ask her something. And since her ghost hasn't shown up, this is the only way for us to communicate."

Werewolves had a way of communicating with their deceased kin, besides that of ghosts appearing from beyond the grave, but the other method was little used as it was quite dangerous as well as painful and advised to only be done when absolutely necessary, hence why Derek hadn't done it until now.

Peter's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Her ghost?" he repeated.

"Oh, right. You don't know. Remember that werewolf ghost story we were told growing up? It's true. Kali appeared to Huntress a while ago," said Derek. He secretly enjoyed the look of terror on Peter's face as Kali had desired Peter severely punished for what Peter had done to Artemis and to hear that she was capable of returning from beyond the grave scared him to death. "But it's not important right now. Right now, I need you to do this for me. I have to talk to my mother."

Peter groaned. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Do I look like I'm kidding, Peter? I wouldn't even be asking you if I had another choice," said Derek. The process required an experienced close relation of the deceased to wear the deceased's claws and do an old mind trick. As Cora didn't have the experience required and Peter was the only other Hale still living, Derek had had no choice but ask his uncle for help. And he was just as loathe to, if not more, to have to ask Peter's help when he neither liked nor trusted him in the slightest. He then began putting the fingernails back into the box as per the ritual commanded.

"You know, there's always an element of danger to rituals like this," said Peter. "I'm not particularly fond of them. _Unless, _they somehow benefit me."

Derek scoffed. He wasn't at all surprised by this. Peter only did anything that got him something in return. He was truly a selfish scumbag. Normally, he wouldn't have agreed to anything his uncle asked but in this case there was no choice.

"What do you want?" he asked, impatiently.

Peter's eyes fell to the box. "I want to keep them."

Derek looked at him suspiciously. "For what?"

"Sentimental value," said Peter, innocently. "What? Don't give me that look. Is it so hard to believe I have feelings?" It shouldn't have been that hard considering Peter had fallen in love with Jennifer and had had his heart broken by her. "And let's not forget, Talia may have been your mother, but she was my big sister. Am I not allowed a bit of sentiment?"

Derek gave him a look before sighing. "Fine. Whatever. It's a deal." He moved as if to move the box closer to Peter but then pulled it away when Peter reached for it. "But there's one condition. If I _ever _find out you've misused these, Kali will be seeing you again a lot sooner. Understood?"

Peter rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yes, yes. Fine. Understood. Can we get on with this?"

Derek complied. He moved the box closer to Peter and then Peter stuck his hand into it. The fingernails stuck to his own and caused Peter's eyes to turn their werewolf blue for a few moments before he was able to pull his hand out. He shuddered as he became used to the new feelings that came with the process. He pushed that aside as he then stood up and stood behind Derek, who'd gotten himself comfortable on a dining room chair.

Peter then plunged the claws into the back of Derek's neck which caused pain for both of them and what happened next was beyond words before Derek managed to converse with his deceased mother, Talia Hale. After what felt like an eternity but was no more than an hour, Peter finally pulled back and it ended.

Both men were breathing hard and feeling exhausted as the pain slowly faded.

"What happened? What'd you ask her? Did she say anything about me?" asked Peter, quickly. He was dying to know what had occurred between his nephew and his sister.

Derek's only reply was a look of fear and worry, which told Peter plenty. Whatever had occurred between Derek and Talia, apparently it hadn't gone well.

XXX

Later at the school, the authorities were going over the high school with a fine-toothed comb as an emergency was now underway. Sheriff Stilinski decided it was bad enough that he asked for a pack meeting for it and he ended up talking to them in an empty classroom.

"Listen up, people. We have a situation. The convict known as William Barrow escaped from the hospital this morning. The ambulance he stole was spotted, parker just three blocks from here," announced Sheriff Stilinski. "Every member of the force, including state police and Special Agent Rafael Moon is here searching for him."

Normally Sheriff Stilinski wouldn't have involved them in a case like this, but unfortunately the circumstances demanded it.

Stiles' eyes widened. "William Barrow? _The _William Barrow? Are you kidding me?" He knew the name from the case files he'd read at the station.

William Barrow was a psychotic shrapnel bomber who'd walked onto a bus and killed four teenagers and crippled the fifth. He was extremely dangerous and feared by those who knew him both personally and by reputation. He was a threat that wasn't to be taken lightly.

"I wish I was," said Sheriff Stilinski, grimly.

"What threat does he pose to us? You wouldn't have called a meeting otherwise," said Isaac.

"You're right. I wouldn't have," said Sheriff Stilinski. "According to Melissa, he told her the reason he did what he did was because the teens' eyes were glowing."

Dread and fear settled on everyone at this sentence.

"Glowing eyes? He went after werewolves?" said Erica, horrified.

"That'd be my guess. But there's more. Flies came out of nowhere when they were tending to him at the hospital and no one knows how he woke up from the anesthesia as he did. It shouldn't have been possible," said Sheriff Stilinski. "Do you guys have any ideas about this?"

"I'll check my family's bestiary, but I don't know if I'll find anything about flies," said Alison.

Lydia frowned. "Wait, did you say flies?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Lydia's been hearing the sound of flies buzzing all day but there hasn't been a single fly to be found," explained Artemis. She looked concerned. "If the flies came from Barrow and that's the sound Lydia's been hearing all day, then it's no coincidence. He's going to strike and someone will die if we don't act."

"Or it could mean he's here," said Jackson.

Neither suggestion brought about good news, which did not bode well and caused them all to begin making suggestions for a plan to deal with Barrow. With Derek and Peter out of commission until the following day at least, going to them for help was out of the question, which meant they were on their own.

Artemis telephoned her mother, who agreed to bring something of Barrow's to the school so the pack could get a lock on his scent and track him down. Alison and Isaac were going to check the bestiary using a list of Archaic Latin translations that Lydia had made, Stiles was going to do his usual work to try and find Barrow, and everyone else was going to keep a lookout for Barrow both at the school and off the grounds.

As soon as Artemis had the chance, she slipped away and met with Melissa in an empty hallway. The police didn't think Barrow was still at the school as they'd searched and found nothing but Artemis and the others believed differently as the buzzing noise Lydia was hearing was getting louder by the minute.

"Did you bring it?"

Melissa nodded and pulled out a plastic bag containing Barrow's old clothes from her large leather purse.

"This is what he was wearing before he changed for the surgery. You should be able to use it to track down his scent," said Melissa.

"Excellent," said Artemis. She quickly stuffed the plastic bag into her backpack before anyone could notice. "You should get going while you have the chance. I just overheard Rafael talking to Stiles' dad. They're checking another place for Barrow, but they're leaving a few deputies here and instigating a lockdown. No one gets in or out until three o'clock."

"Okay. Just promise me one thing first," said Melissa.

"Anything, Mom. Name it," said Artemis.

Melissa bit her lip and sighed as worry and fear crossed her face. "Promise me you'll be careful. I looked into Barrow's eyes. They were terrifying. I know you've got the pack behind you and you're a powerful Alpha, but you mustn't do anything that's going to cause me to lose you. I had to bury your sister. I don't want you to join her. So, promise me you'll do everything you can to stay safe." Losing one daughter had been hard enough but losing her second would destroy her. "Sometimes the real monsters in this world are humans

Artemis's face softened as she nodded. "I promise, Mom." She gave Melissa a tight hug and a kiss on her forehead before leaving to meet with the rest of the pack.

However despite a thorough search of the school conducted by splitting up the pack to cover more ground, Barrow remained missing. But the buzzing sound in Lydia's ears refused to cease, meaning he was still out there and someone's life was still in danger. The question was, whose life and when it occur?

XXX

Later that afternoon, Kira was lounging about in the living room reading a book when her father arrived home and called her to meet him in the entryway of the house.

"What's going on, Dad?" asked Kira.

"Get ready for dinner and put on something nice," said Ken.

Kira was confused. She was dressed in an overly causal T-shirt and leggings and her hair was in a messily done bun. She almost always dressed that way for common meals with her parents. She didn't see the need to wear something better now.

"Why would I want to dress nicely for a dinner with just you, me and Mom?"

"Because it's not just the three of us tonight. I invited a guest over for dinner to say thank you for preventing my daughter from becoming a coyote's dinner," he said, smiling.

The doorbell then rang and when he opened the door, Kira's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Artemis on the other side of it, dressed nicely and smiling while holding her motorcycle helmet underneath her arm.

"Hi, Kira," she said.

"Hi," said Kira, weakly. She felt like she was about to die from embarrassment. "Come on in. I'll be with you in just a sec."

Without waiting for a reply, Kira quickly ran into her room and changed into nicer clothes and fixed up her hair as fast she could before joining Artemis in the living room and taking over entertaining Artemis from her mother, Noshiko, who was apparently becoming very well acquainted and liked well enough that Noshiko asked that Artemis refer to her and her husband by their first names.

"Oh, Kira, you look lovely," said Noshiko, when she spotted her daughter coming into the room. She smiled. "I better go see how Ken's coming along with the dinner so you two can have some time alone to chat before we eat."

And with that she left.

Kira then sank onto the couch beside Artemis. "So, Artemis, what's new with you?"

"Not much. But, uh, I think I owe you an apology," said Artemis.

"An apology? For what?"

"For not checking with you about tonight. I saw the look on your face when I came in," said Artemis, making Kira wince. "I know how it is to have unexpected guests. I'm sorry that my coming here was a surprise. Your dad invited me over for dinner after the business with the coyote. I assumed you knew."

"That's okay. I don't mind having you here. It's _great_ to have you here. I'm just terrified my dad's going to embarrass me. I love him and all and he means well, he just…he can be a bit clueless sometimes, that's all," said Kira. She loved her father and knew he was only trying to be nice but sometimes Kira wished he wouldn't try quite so hard.

Artemis chuckled. "Almost all parents do that. I think it's in their job description. Just like how it says in ours to give them grey hairs before they're thirty."

Kira laughed and began to relax.

They went on chatting until Ken called them in for dinner.

Artemis sat next to Kira, opposite that of her parents at the dinner table.

"Now, Artemis, as a native of Beacon Hills, I'm sure you've eaten at some pretty impressive Japanese sushi restaurants," said Noshiko. "But I have to tell you, that my husband is a superb chef."

"Well, to be honest, yes," she admitted. "My older sister, Kali, and I used to go out for sushi every year for her birthday. It was her favorite." It had been one of their traditions before Kali had run off and they'd managed to squeeze in one last special night out like that just before she'd died. And even during those ten years they'd been apart, Artemis had still gone out to Kali's favorite sushi restaurant and ordered a meal for two, as means of remembering her. "But your husband's cooking smells delicious, so I'm sure I'm in for a treat."

Kira felt relieved. There had been a few times in New York when her father had tried to impress the friends Kira had brought over for dinner with his sushi and it had failed miserably as while he was an excellent cook, none of her friends had had much experience with sushi and others had been allergic, which had led to disaster.

"You certainly are, Artemis," said Ken, as he entered the dining room. He placed their food onto the table. There were several different kinds of sushi on the dinner platter along with small bowls of soy sauce for dipping, plates of white rice and cups of hot tea to drink. "I have Hamachi, uni, ikura, and hiram. And as our guest, feel free to take the first serving."

"Thank you, Ken." After arranging her chopsticks in between her fingers, Artemis carefully picked up a piece of sushi and then ate it. Immediately, her taste buds screamed in delight.

"Holy cow," she said, when she'd swallowed. "This is, without a doubt, the best sushi I've ever had in my life. It's delicious."

Kira's father looked pleased. "Thank you, Artemis."

"I knew you'd like it," said Noshiko, smiling. "Perhaps you'd like the recipe?"

Artemis nodded. "Yes, that'd be great." She took a small sip of her tea. "So, I hear you moved here from New York. What's it like there? I've never been out of this state."

Grateful for a subject she could talk about without babbling like an idiot, Kira eagerly began telling Artemis stories about her old hometown and dinner was a very pleasant meal with plenty of chit-chat and laugher until Ken's tactlessness once again reared its ugly head.

"Artemis, I've been meaning to ask. What are the stories between those pendants you're always wearing?" asked Ken.

The chain on Artemis's neck had her crescent moon pendant from Derek and her late sister's locket. It looked a bit strange, but it was Artemis's way of keeping her mate and her sister close with her at all times.

"Well, the crescent moon was a gift from my boyfriend, Derek, for my birthday. The locket was my older sister's, Kali's," said Artemis. As she spoke, she unconsciously reached up her hand and gently rubbed them with her fingers.

"Ah. Well, you'll have to bring her with you to dinner sometime. We'd love to meet her," said Ken, smiling. "Perhaps I can persuade Kali to come here for her birthday dinners."

Artemis did not smile back. Instead her brown eyes became slightly dull with pain. "I'm sure she would've loved to. But she can't because Kali…she passed away a long time ago."

Silence fell upon the Yukimura family. Noshiko looked sympathetic, Kira looked shocked and briefly shot her father a stern look while Ken looked ashamed.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked," said Ken, breaking the silence.

"No, no, it's fine. You didn't know," assured Artemis. "Anyway, I know it looks strange but to me, wearing both Derek's gift and Kali's locket keeps both close, if that makes any sense."

Noshiko nodded in understanding. "It makes perfect sense to me and I think it's a fine way of honoring your sister."

"Thank you, Noshiko," said Artemis.

Kira then cleared her throat in an attempt to change the subject. "So, Artemis, I hear you're the co-captain of the lacrosse team. What's it like?"

"Jeez. Where I begin?" Artemis paused for a moment. "Well, lacrosse is a pretty exciting game. My best friend Stiles and I have been playing for years now. It's like field hockey except the sticks have nets. My teammates are pretty good guys. But it can get pretty rough on the semi-finals and championship games. Last year, the opposing team's secret weapon, which was this really big guy, knocked the wind out of me by slamming me down onto the field. But we still won the game, which made my coach happy."

Ken whistled low. "Lacrosse sounds like a dangerous game."

"It's not always like that. It's no different than football or rugby but everyone here still loves it. Although, I suspect that's because we don't play anything else," said Artemis.

That made them all laugh.

"Do you play on a girls' team?" asked Noshiko.

"No. I play with the guys. I'm the only female player and Coach Finstock made me the first female co-captain after my playing improved after my sophomore year."

"Wow," said Kira. "I'll bet some of the boys weren't happy about that."

"Just one or two, actually. Like I said, my teammates are pretty good sports," said Artemis. She remembered all too well when Jackson had been a bad sport about her lacrosse success before the kanima business had forced him to change his arrogant nature and become a bit more humble. "But that's enough about me. Tell me more about your family. It sounds fascinating."

"Well, as I've said, we come from New York. But my family originated here in Beacon Hills. We lived here for several generations," said Noshiko.

"But Yukimura is Japanese, right?"

Noshiko and Ken nodded.

"Yes. But I'm actually Korean," he said. "When my wife and I married, I took her name as she was the only surviving member of her family."

"You see, Artemis, we were married in Japan. The law there decrees that the couple must share the same name, to belong to the same _koseki_," explained Noshiko.

"Wow. I wonder if that's how my father felt when he married my mom," said Artemis. She'd always wondered why Rafael had changed his surname from Delgado to Melissa's maiden name of Moon instead of vice-versa. "Please, continue."

"My wife's lineage is unique. I was going to discuss it in class," said Ken.

Kira quickly shook her head. "Please, don't." She got embarrassed enough as it was. She didn't want to add more to it.

Noshiko looked both displeased and stern. "Kira," her tone had an edge and accent to it, "you should be _proud _of your heritage. Your father was honored to join my family."

"I _am _proud," she snapped. "I just don't want to be the center of attention in class again. That's all." Was it so unreasonable to not be placed in the spotlight for a change?

"Kira, Noshiko, please," said Ken, quickly intervening. "Let's not quarrel in front of our guest, please. We can talk about this later."

Thankfully both women obeyed Ken and a fire was extinquished before it started. The rest of the meal was pleasant and afterwards when they'd had dessert of Noshiko's molten lava cake, Kira and Artemis retreated to Kira's bedroom for some girl time before Artemis had to return home.

XXX

At Stiles' house that night, he was doing his usual detective work in his room when there was a knock on the door.

"It's open," said Stiles.

Much to his surprise, when the door swung open, it was Malia on the other side rather than his father. She was looking a lot better now. In fact, she looked quite attractive with her hair pulled back into a ponytail and her attire of brown sneakers, blue jeans, a denim jacket and cream colored T-shirt.

"Malia. Hi. What're you doing here?" asked Stiles. He felt slightly nervous as ever since he'd buried his feelings for Lydia, he'd been having new ones for Malia as he found her both beautiful and quite fascinating. Still, he was surprised to see her as it was rather late.

"I couldn't sleep. Thought I'd come by and see you. Your dad let me in. I hope that's okay," said Malia. When Stiles said that it was, she pointed to the pictures and newspaper cuttings on the walls, which all had different colored strings pinned to them. "What do the different colored strings on the wall mean?"

"What? Oh, uh, they're different stages of the investigation," said Stiles. "Green's solved, yellow is to be determined, blue's just pretty and red's unsolved."

There was quite a lot of red on the wall, but thankfully Malia didn't comment. Instead she looked interested.

"What're you investigating?"

"We're trying to find William Barrow. You know him?"

"I heard about him on the news, yeah," said Malia. She sat down on Stiles' bed. "So, is this what you and your friends do all the time? Rescue werecoyotes from their human fathers and investigate escaped human lunatics? I mean it's cool, but still…"

"Kind of," admitted Stiles. It sounded a bit crazy when she put it like that, but basically that's what it all came down to. "But in this case, this human lunatic, William Barrow, does not like teens with glowing eyes, so we're a bit keen to get him locked up again."

"Ah," said Malia, grimly. Now she understood why they were so keen on getting Barrow locked up again. "Why aren't your friends here helping?"

"Well, because most of them are sleeping, some are busy and others are doing their own investigations," explained Stiles. "And honestly, I think some of them are bit discouraged. We searched the school high and low but we didn't find Barrow anywhere. Lydia's real upset about that. She thinks she let us down, which is totally not true."

Malia frowned in confusion. "Lydia? The redheaded girl? What's she got to do with this?"

Stiles then remembered that Malia didn't know everything about the pack just yet. "Lydia's got plenty to do with this. She's a banshee, you know, a wailing spirit who warns people about a death. Lydia gets a sort of warning before someone's about to die, like a sound only she can hear or sometimes she finds the body first. She was so sure Barrow was at the school today and when we didn't find him, she was real disappointed about it, you know."

"Wow," said Malia. She was both stunned and impressed by all this. "And I thought my life was insane."

Stiles laughed. "Trust me. 'Insane' barely covers everything Artemis and I have been through with the pack over the last year. I've got stories."

"I'm sure you do," said Malia, smiling. "Anyway, maybe I can help. I may have spent eight years as a coyote, but I do know a lot about tracking. There wasn't any scent of him at all?"

Stiles shook his head.

"Well, maybe Barrow's smarter than people give him credit for. I mean, most animals know how to conceal their scents so predators can't find them. Maybe there's a way to trick even an Alpha wolf like Artemis," said Malia.

The blood drained from Stiles' face. "That makes sense. Oh, crap. That means…_oh, crap!_" He grabbed his jacket. "I'm going to the school. Are you coming?"

Malia looked surprised but didn't hesitate to accept Stiles's offer. She went with him to the school where they broke into the chemistry room.

"Crap," muttered Stiles.

"What now?" asked Malia.

They'd just entered the chemistry classroom's storage closet.

"That door was supposed to be locked. I didn't unlock it," said Stiles. He beckoned to the shelves. "Do you see what I see?"

"All the chemical containers are empty," said Malia. She was not liking this one bit. "All I can smell in here is chemicals. No one could've picked up Barrow's scent this way. But how the devil did he even know anyone would be tracking him like that?"

"I don't know. Best guess? He put the pieces together when he did what he did to those teenagers," said Stiles. He switched on his flashlight and began looking around for clues. "Help me look. See if you can find anything that might help."

Malia did. She blinked and her eyes turned their supernatural blue color, allowing her night vision which was better than any flashlight. "Stiles, I found blood." She was kneeling down next to a small amount of it on the floor along with a bit of torn bandage. "He was here."

"Lydia was right," murmured Stiles. "So, we know he was here and we know he was using the chemicals to disguise his scent. So, now the question is, who was he here to kill and how did he know about them? It's not public knowledge that Beacon Hills High teaches a pack of werewolves."

"Well, if he was hiding in here, then maybe the answer's in the other room," suggested Malia.

So, they ended up searching the chemistry classroom for clues and it wasn't long before they found one. Stiles found numbers on the classroom's blackboard.

"What do the numbers mean?" asked Malia.

"I don't know, but they look familiar," said Stiles, frowning. He didn't know how or why, but they were. He then spotted a chemistry book on the table and an idea came to him. He quickly looked through and came upon the periodic table of elements. "Look, here it is! Each number is a letter here on this page. Write these out as I tell them to you."

Malia did and when she was finished, the end results caused them to feel very afraid. The numbers were nineteen, fifty-three and eighty-eight, which, in written form for the symbols were the letters, K-I-Ra. It spelled out Kira's name. She was the next target. This was not good.

XXX

At Alison's place, she and Isaac were going over the bestiary together, trying to find some answers among its pages using some translations Lydia had given them. But so far, while they had found some frightening pictures of demonic-looking creatures, they hadn't found much.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going crackers. So far, all I've found is a reference about flies being able to carry messages from the dead," said Alison, in frustration.

"I think it's a sign you need a break," said Isaac. He quickly scooped up the papers and her laptop off her bed and put them on her desk. "And what kind of a boyfriend would I be if I didn't let my girlfriend get a bit of rest when she needs it most?"

"I don't know…" said Alison, uneasily. She was dying for a break but now didn't seem like the best time with Barrow on the loose. "We've still got lots to do."

"Five minutes won't hurt. Come on, Alison. You've been at this for hours. Just five minutes. Please?" begged Isaac.

Unable to resist Isaac's puppy dog pout, Alison finally relented and she was glad she did, for Isaac gave her a fabulous massage to her neck and shoulders which eased away her tension and made her feel immensely relaxed and less stressed.

"You're the best," she said, as she kissed him in gratitude. "I love you."

Isaac smiled back and kissed her again. "I love you too."

They went on like that for a few minutes until Isaac's stomach rumbled, causing him to look sheepish as Alison laughed.

"I'll get us some dinner. I'll be right back," said Alison. "Pizza sound good to you?"

Isaac nodded.

Alison then left the room, only to wish she hadn't when the lights went out soon after she left and then she heard her bedroom door slam and Isaac screaming.

"Isaac?!" she yelled. "Isaac, let me in!" But there was no reply and the door remained closed. "_Dad, help!_"

At the sound of Alison's frantic yelling, Chris came and helped.

Both of them pounded on the door, yelled for Isaac to open it and tried to get it open, but to no avail. Something was happening to him behind the door. But what and why?

XXX

At Kira's house, it was time for Artemis to head home so Kira was seeing Artemis out by walking her to her motorcycle. The two were talking and laughing as they'd had an enjoyable evening.

"Artemis…"

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?" asked Artemis, curiously.

"Be…you, I guess. I mean, I've heard stories about you at school and I've seen how you are. You're beautiful, talent, popular, and you have a great boyfriend. Whereas it seems like ever since I moved here, every time I open my mouth, I start babbling like an idiot and chase people away," said Kira. "I'm nothing like you."

Artemis looked sympathetic. "Honestly, Kira, I'm glad you're not like me. Because then you wouldn't be you. And I'll let you in on a little secret, up until my junior year, I wasn't that great at lacrosse or very popular much less good-looking or anything else. In fact, I was kind of a nerd."

"Really?" said Kira, surprised. She hadn't expected that as Artemis had always seemed confident and graceful. "No offense, but what changed?"

"Something incredible," said Artemis. Her tone implied she didn't wish to speak of it further and Kira took the hint. "But what I'm trying to say is, my life changed and eventually, I was able to make it a good one. And so will you. You're a beautiful, talented and kind girl who's going to be great. You probably just need more time to get used to Beacon Hills. And you don't need to worry about friends. My friends are yours. They already like you and so do I."

Kira felt significantly cheered up at this. "Thanks." She smiled. "I'm really glad we're friends, Artemis. And not because I thought you were perfect or because you saved me from a coyote."

"Oh? Why then?" asked Artemis. She slung her leg over her motorcycle and was about to take off. "What else did I do?"

Kira smiled again and looked as though it was obvious. "Because you remembered my name. So, thanks."

Artemis smiled back. "You're Welcome. Good night, Kira." She pulled her keys out of her pocket and was about to drive off when something hit the back of Artemis's head and caused her to fall unconscious.

XXX

When Artemis came to, her vision was blurry and her hearing was messed up, both of which was clearing up quickly. When she could finally see properly and the sounds around her didn't sound distorted, she saw that Stiles, Malia and the rest of the pack, minus Cora (who was busy trying to help her brother and uncle) Isaac and Alison were there, trying to bring her back to the land of the living.

Artemis's head was in Erica's lap and Boyd was waving a pack of smelling salts under her nose to wake her up, which smelled horrid.

"Artemis! How're you feeling, buddy?" asked Stiles.

"Lousy," said Artemis. She groaned as she swatted Boyd's hand away and slowly sat up. "My head's killing me. What the devil happened? Who hit me?" Her heart sank when she noticed a certain someone's absence. "Wait, where's Kira?"

"Barrow took her," announced Malia. "He was after her the whole time. Stiles and I went to the school and found out why you guys couldn't find him."

"Stiles notified us immediately and when you didn't answer your phone, we came here and found out cold," said Erica.

"Are you okay?" asked Boyd.

"No, I'm not okay!" said Artemis. "Kira got snatched because I let my guard down! This is my fault and we don't find her and fast, she's going to die!" She ran her fingers through her hair. "Okay, do we have any ideas where he would've taken her?"

"No. But the buzzing's still there. I'm still hearing the flies," said Lydia. She looked frustrated. "This is driving me nuts. I feel like the answer's on the tip of my tongue but I can't say it. It makes me want to scream."

This wasn't helping as they still had next to no information as to how the flies were connected to Barrow besides that of his escape. But then one of them realized the rest of Lydia's sentence.

"Wait a second. You want to scream?" said Jackson. When Lydia nodded, he continued. "We're all idiots. Banshees are known for being messengers of death, but there's only one way that they do it."

"They scream," said Stiles, as he clutched his forehead. "Okay, Lydia, scream."

Lydia did. She let out horrible, ear-drum shattering scream that had everyone on their knees clutching their ears in agony until it finally ceased. Once it did, Lydia quietly listened again and then looked startled.

"I'm not hearing flies anymore," she said. "It's electricity."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Wait a second, Barrow used to be an electric engineer. He worked at a power substation."

"Which substation?" demanded Artemis.

"The one on the outskirts of town. It's—Artemis, wait!"

But Artemis didn't wait. She was already on her motorcycle riding off as fast as she could. She had no time to wait. Her friend's life was in danger.

XXX

When Artemis arrived, she found Kira tied to a chain link fence and Barrow about to electrocute her with a giant electrical cable that was sparking like nobody's business. He was ranting and raving about children with glowing eyes were secretly evil's spawn and how he was the only one to see the truth while everyone else was blind to it and labeled him as a lunatic. He was about to zap Kira when Artemis caught his attention.

"Hey!" she yelling, startling him. "Let her go! She's not the one you want!"

"Oh, I beg to differ. You'll see, just like they all will," said Barrow. "Everyone will see the truth about those whose eyes glow!"

Artemis let out a growl. "This is your last warning, Barrow! Let her go or I'll show the truth about glowing eyes!"

But once again Barrow didn't listen and Artemis was forced to take action. She cast a quick look at Kira. "Kira, what happens next, don't be scared. Just trust me, okay? It's still me." She hadn't planned on exposing her secret to Kira but the plan had changed.

"What're you talking about?" said Kira, confused.

Artemis made no reply as she shifted into a great humanoid wolf as her eyes glowed bright red which caused Barrow to look both satisfied and terrified. The expression on Kira's face was a mixture of shock and fear, but judging from the scent, Kira's fear wasn't directed at Artemis. Which meant she was most likely afraid _for _Artemis rather than _of _her. But regardless, Artemis paid Kira's reaction little attention as she focused in on Barrow.

Barrow was actually shaking and quivering in fear. "Oh…my…"

Artemis roared again, and then proceeded to chase Barrow when he dropped the cable and ran as fast as his scrawny legs would carry him. He was fast but Artemis was faster and soon she caught him. She grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hoisted him into the air and then knocked him out before tying him up.

With Barrow dealt with, Artemis reverted back to human form and ran back to Kira, who still looked the same as she did before Artemis had chased after Barrow.

"Artemis…" she gasped. "You're a…."

"A werewolf, yeah I know," interrupted Artemis. She began breaking Kira's bonds, freeing her. "I know you've got a lot of questions, but they're going to have to wait. Right now, we've got to get you out of here. Okay?"

Kira nodded but then she looked scared. "Artemis, look out!"

Artemis spun around to find herself face-to-face with Barrow, who'd gotten free. He zapped Artemis and then tossed her aside before turning Kira just as the others arrived. But what happened next was something no one expected. When Barrow tried to use the cable on Kira, there was a powerful surge of electricity which caused the generators to overload and blackout the town and fry Barrow's brain, leaving him out cold on the floor.

And that wasn't enough; Artemis couldn't believe what she was seeing. Kira was absorbing the electricity like a sponge. She wasn't human, but she definitely wasn't anything else Artemis had ever encountered. So, what was she?

_**A/N: I apologize to Stydia fans but as I kept Jackson in my story and Lydia is his mate, she cannot be Stiles' girlfriend. However, while I like Stalia, I did feel that it was a bit rushed on the show, so I'm trying to change that. Also, Malia will eventually join the pack but she will not lose her ability to change after being transformed back into a human after so many years. I like both pairings but this is the one I'm going with. Please don't flame me! **_


	4. Illuminated

**Illuminated**

At Alison's house, her bedroom door, which had refused to open for the past several minutes despite their frantic efforts, suddenly opened.

Without hesitation, Alison and Chris raced into her room and found Isaac on the floor, barely moving.

"Isaac!" cried Alison. She ran to his side and tried to arouse him but to no avail. His breathing was also shallow and his skin was like ice to the touch. And on the back of his left ear was what appeared to be a backwards five.

"Dad, he's not responding to me at all and he's as cold as ice!" said Alison, scared. "What's happening? Should I call Derek?"

Chris didn't reply. He held Isaac's face in his hands. "Isaac? Isaac, look at me! Isaac, come on!" But there was no response, which made Chris look worried. "Isaac, listen to me, you have to turn! Trigger it! Turn!"

Again Isaac made no reply.

"Isaac, turn or I'll lock you in the freezer!" growled Chris, as he pinched Isaac's arm hard.

That did the trick. Isaac's eyes glowed bright gold and he quickly got up from the floor and sat up against Alison's bed as the two Argents faced him. Isaac's warmth and breathing had returned to normal, but he was still in bad shape. It only took a few seconds for Isaac to become panicky and for tears to start sliding down his cheeks.

"Shh, Isaac, it's okay. You're safe now," said Alison. She put a hand to his face and gently wiped his tears away with the pad of her thumb. "Just breathe deeply and tell us what happened."

Isaac covered Alison's hand with his own and shuddered both in fear and relief. "Did you see them?" he whispered.

"Who?" asked Alison.

Isaac swallowed painfully. "There were five of them and they wore black."

"What did they look like?" asked Chris.

"That's just it. I don't know. I couldn't see their faces. They were wearing masks. Silvery grey masks that looked demonic," said Isaac. His voice trembled with fear. "But I could see their eyes. They were greenish yellow, like fireflies. They scared to death. I thought they were going to kill me."

More tears were flowing at this point and Alison was now holding Isaac tightly in her arms as he buried his face in her shoulder, both crying and trying to calm down.

Chris rose up and checked the windows. There was still no light due to the blackout, but he could still do a good examination with the light of the moon and the flashlight he was carrying. He didn't look happy.

"Security system wasn't triggered," he announced.

"Then how'd they get in?" demanded Alison.

Since Chris had upgraded security, the Argents' home was fortified against both humans and supernatural beings and whatever happened to Isaac had occurred before the blackout. It was impossible to get in without triggering the alarms.

"They didn't," said Isaac, as he pulled away from Alison. He was no longer crying but he still seemed shaken. "It seemed like they came out of the shadows."

Alison frowned at the look on Chris's face at this piece of information. "Do you know what that means, Dad?"

"Possibly," he admitted. He looked somewhat scared, something that unsettled Alison. "But I don't want to jump to conclusions. I need to gather more information, first. So, I need you two to keep this quiet for a few hours."

Isaac's eyes immediately narrowed. "You want me to keep this from Artemis and Derek? No way. I don't like keeping secrets from them."

It was against a truly loyal Beta's instincts to keep secrets from their Alpha and besides that Isaac wasn't the type of person to hide things from his loved ones, especially not the ones who'd changed his crappy life into a better one.

"Just give me twenty-four hours," begged Chris.

"But what if they know something you don't or those things go after my pack?" protested Isaac.

"Dad, Isaac's right. Besides, those things could've killed him!" added Alison.

"But they _didn't_," said Chris. "And I think there might've been a reason why. I think they might've been after me."

Isaac and Alison stared at Chris in disbelief. It wasn't unheard of for a hunter to have enemies seek vengeance on them as hunters ticked off a lot of people, both human and supernatural, but to hear Chris say that demon-like creatures might've been after him and not Isaac wasn't something they expected to hear at all and nor did it sit well with them.

"I know it's a lot to ask you to keep this secret from your friends and pack, but I wouldn't ask unless it was necessary. All I want is twenty-four hours of silence. That's all."

After a few more moments of discussion, Isaac and Alison finally, albeit reluctantly, consented to Chris's request, but Isaac warned Chris that the twenty-four hours was all he was going to wait. The minute the twenty-four hours were up, he was telling the pack of what had happened. Chris had no choice but to agree.

XXX

Meanwhile, at the police station, Artemis and the others were in the sheriff's office, feeling bored out of their skulls as well as extremely annoyed at Rafael.

They'd called the police and an ambulance after Barrow had been zapped and Kira was safe. As expected, Rafael was among the authorities who'd arrived. Instead of congratulating them for getting Kira back safe and unharmed, Rafael was interrogating them. He was supposed to just collect their statements and let them go, but he was being a paranoid, egotistical fool as per usual. He wanted to know exactly how they'd found Kira, why they hadn't called the police and what had caused the blackout and naturally was trying to lay blame and suspicion on Artemis and her friends for it.

"So, Stiles, when did you and your friends get there?" asked Rafael.

"Right after Artemis," said Stiles.

"By coincidence?" asked Rafael, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"What do you mean, 'coincidence'?" asked Stiles, frowning.

"That's what I'm asking you. You arrived just after Artemis did. Was that coincidence?"

Artemis feigned ignorance. "Are you asking me?"

"I think he's asking _me_," said Stiles.

"I think he's asking both of you," said Malia.

Artemis fought back a laugh and smirk at the look on Rafael's face. She knew she shouldn't, but she loved winding him up like that.

Rafael sighed in exasperation and irritation. "Let me answer the questions!"

That earned him quite a few confused looks as well as looks that said, "_Dude, are you stupid?_"

"_Ask _the questions," he quickly corrected. He then began flipping through his notepad. "Let me see if I've got this right. Stiles, you and Malia along with the rest of your friends were doing some investigation of your own, found out Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school along with a message to Barrow, telling him to kill Kira. Barrow then took Kira to the power substation where he tied her up with the intention of electrocuting her, which caused a blackout throughout the entire town."

"That sounds about right," said Stiles.

It sounded insane when said like that but it was the truth and honestly, it wasn't the most insane thing that had happened over the last year.

Rafael didn't look convinced. "How'd you know he'd take her to a power substation?"

"Well, because he was an electrical engineer and he worked at that particular station," said Stiles, in the tone of someone explaining something obvious to a simpleton. "So, where else would he take her?"

"Makes sense to me," said Malia, causing Stiles to smile at her. "He made a good deduction. I think he'd make a good cop."

Rafael didn't share in Malia's belief and ignored her. "That's one heck of a deduction, Stiles."

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I take after my pops. He's in law enforcement," said Stiles. He shot Sheriff Stilinski, who was sitting quietly at his desk supervising the interrogation, which caused him to cover up a laugh with a cough.

"And what were the two of you doing?" asked Rafael, as he looked at Artemis and Kira.

"I was at Kira's house for dinner tonight. Her father invited me over. Afterwards, we hung out in her room and she walked me to my bike. We were just talking and saying good-bye when Barrow snuck up behind me and knocked me out from behind. When I woke up, Kira was gone and Stiles and my friends were trying to find her. I decided to help because she's my friend and she disappeared under my watch. I was just trying to help out. That's all," said Artemis.

It wasn't a lie. That _had _been what happened before the confrontation at the substation. But since Rafael hadn't asked if she'd wolfed out on Barrow or that Kira had sucked up the electricity from the cable, there was no need to tell Rafael. Besides, if Artemis had her way, Rafael was not going to find out anything about the supernatural world she was a part of.

"And just out of curiosity, what the diagnosis on Barrow?" asked Artemis.

"Well, the doctors say he's alive but he's a vegetable. He's never going to wake up. The power surge fried his brain like an egg," said Sheriff Stilinski.

_Well, I can't say I feel sad about that. _With Barrow a vegetable, people were safe from him and he could never tell anyone about what he'd seen Artemis do. And it also meant that Artemis's 'no kill' record was still clean. Regardless of who Barrow was and what he had done, Artemis hadn't wanted to kill him.

"And just in case you were wondering, I got there first because I took off before Stiles did and my bike's a bit faster than his jeep," said Artemis.

Rafael snorted and then looked at Sheriff Stilinski. "You believe this?"

"To be honest, I haven't believed a word Stiles has said since he learned how to speak," said Sheriff Stilinski, which made them all laugh. "But I _think_ these young people found themselves in the right place at the right time and Kira's very lucky for it."

"Kira, is that how you remember it?" asked Rafael.

She hadn't said much throughout the entire interrogation and possibly, Rafael was hoping she'd say something that would go against everyone else's story. But no such luck.

Kira just nodded. "Yeah, that's how I remember it." She was still shaken but she wasn't going to expose Artemis's secret or tell Rafael that she'd absorbed the electricity from the cable which caused the blackout. "Can I have my phone back now?"

Rafael reluctantly accepted this and shook his head. "Sorry, but no. For the time being, it's evidence. We'll let you know when you can have it back."

Kira looked uneasy at this, which made Artemis wonder why. What was on Kira's phone that it would make her afraid of the authorities seeing it? Not to mention, Artemis was still curious as to how Kira had absorbed the electricity from the cable and why Barrow had been so convinced that Kira's eyes glowed.

With nothing more to justify keeping them there, Rafael then released them and arranged for a deputy to take Kira home after she filled out some paperwork.

Just as Artemis was leaving, Rafael grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him.

"Artemis," he said, "I don't know why you guys are lying or why Stilinski's content to listen to this crap. But know this, if half this story about Barrow's true, then not only did somebody help set him loose, but he was a pawn in their little game."

Artemis was already aware of this as the thought had crossed her mind after Kira had been saved. She was even more convinced that Kali's warning was coming true and something bad was going to happen and she had to stop it before anyone was hurt or worse. But she didn't say this aloud to Rafael. She stayed silent and waited for him to finish speaking.

"Having someone like Barrow loose is bad enough, but someone like him being controlled by someone's even worse," said Rafael. "And I don't want to find out that either you or someone in your group of friends is somehow involved or covering up something you don't want me finding out."

Artemis's eyes narrowed in anger. How _dare _he say such a thing? "I told you the truth. Whether or not you believe it is not my problem," she said, coldly. "Even if I did lie, which I _didn't_, there's no proof of it so don't bother looking. None of my friends would do something like this and if you're a fool if you actually believe that. And even so, I stop caring about what you thought of me a long time ago."

She yanked herself free of him and walked off.

XXX

Despite the lack of power, school still went on the next day.

Under any other circumstances, Artemis would've been disappointed but it was the least of her concerns at the moment as despite her efforts to talk, Kira seemed to be avoiding her like the plague, which made Artemis wonder if she'd scared off her new friend with the revelation of her true nature as a werewolf.

After yet another failed attempt to talk to Kira, Artemis went to collect her biology book for her next class and heard a voice call her name.

"Hey, Artemis!"

Artemis looked up to see Ethan approaching her.

"Ethan, hi. What's up?" asked Artemis.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. What's with the look?" asked Ethan.

Artemis sighed. She didn't really want to talk to Ethan about this, but she didn't have much of a choice as she needed to talk to someone and everyone else was either in class or trying to get to class before the bell rang.

"It's Kira. I really need to talk to her and she's been avoiding me all day," said Artemis. "I think I scared her off last night."

"You don't know that. Maybe she's just freaked out because of Barrow," said Ethan. "Or maybe it's because of what she did. I mean, she _did _manage to blackout the entire town. And let's not forget someone wanted her dead."

"All the more reason for me to talk to her," said Artemis, in frustration as she slammed her locker shut. "We don't know what she is. Stiles thinks I should just stay away from her until we find out more information on her as she could be like the next kanima, but I can't justify doing that." If Artemis had avoided everyone who'd seemed non-human in her life, it never would've ended well. "You didn't see the look on her face when she absorbed the electricity last night. She didn't look like it was normal for her. She was _scared_, Ethan. Really scared. I'm beginning to think she doesn't know what she is either."

"Then maybe that's why she's avoiding you," said Ethan.

Artemis frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Think about it, when Peter first bit you, you were scared and tried all you could to deny what you were and cure it, right?" When Artemis nodded, Ethan continued, "Kira might be going through the same thing. She knows she's not normal and she's knows you're not normal either and she's scared of it, and by avoiding you, she can avoid her problem and deny whatever's going on."

It actually made perfect sense when Artemis thought about it. But she was still a bit surprised to hear it come out of Ethan's mouth and neither he nor Aiden had the best records when it came to that sort of wisdom.

"When did you get so wise?" asked Artemis.

"A couple of Betas in my old pack, not Deucalion's, went through the same thing," said Ethan. "And anyway, if I were you, I'd just give Kira some time and if you do get a chance to talk to her, don't bring up last night. Let her deal with it in her own way."

"You're probably right," said Artemis, sighing yet again. She didn't exactly like it, but she knew he had a point. "And thanks for listening and for the advice. I needed it."

"You're Welcome," said Ethan, smiling. He then looked hesitant. "Now, is it too soon to ask for a favor and maybe some advice?"

"Maybe, it depends," said Artemis, warily. _So, help me if the only reason he was being so nice is because he was hoping to get something from me—! _"What is it?"

Ethan looked around to make sure no one was listening. "It's about Danny. I want to tell him about…what I am, and I was hoping you might have some advice as to how to do it. And the venue for his blackout party tonight just cancelled and I was wondering if Derek would let us use his loft as an alternative."

Artemis's heart skipped a beat and she felt stunned to hear this. She shouldn't have been, but she was, and so she struggled for a reply.

"Okay, uh…look, there's not really a right way for telling a human that you're a werewolf. But I would suggest that you do it somewhere private and break it to him gently. And while I can't stop you from telling him about Aiden as he's your brother, not mine, I've got to ask that you do _not _tell him about the rest of us without our consent."

Telling Danny was a risky move and generally, it was only supposed to be done when the circumstances demanded it, but Artemis understood Ethan's motives and couldn't fault him for them. It wasn't easy keeping such a big secret from those you cared about it.

Ethan accepted this and agreed to Artemis's terms. "And what about the party?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You seriously want to throw a blackout party at Derek's loft?"

Ethan nodded.

"Is this because you're trying to do something nice for Danny or because you're trying to get in my good graces because I care more about people than power?"

Ethan looked sheepish. "Maybe both," he admitted.

Artemis couldn't help but chuckle. "I'll ask Derek, but I'm not making any promises. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Artemis."

XXX

Later that day during lunch, Artemis found Kira sitting by herself in the hallway, eating, and decided to try and join her.

"Hey. Mind if I join you?" asked Artemis.

Kira hesitated but then shook her head. "I'm not going to tell anyone I saw you become a werewolf last night, if that's what you're going ask. But I don't want to talk about what happened last night, either."

"Well, glad as I am to hear that, I just wanted to talk to you about the Pre-Calculus test on Friday," said Artemis, as she sat down beside her. "I don't know about you, but I hate this subject. But the test shouldn't be too bad. The teacher takes nearly all the equations out of the book and basically gives us nearly all the answers, I kid you not."

Kira chuckled but then looked solemn. "Artemis…when you said that your life changed over a year ago, you were talking about becoming a werewolf, weren't you?" she said.

Artemis was surprised that Kira was asking, but nevertheless, she nodded. "Yeah, it was. On the eve of my junior year, I was bitten by an Alpha wolf, the only one of my kind that can turn humans into werewolves. I didn't ask for the bite. I was turned against my will and forced into a world I never knew existed. And believe me, I _hated _it. For a long time, I fought against it and I tried to become a regular human again, but surprisingly, I eventually came to accept it as part of who I am. My lycanthropy didn't control me, I controlled it."

"And it turned out okay?" asked Kira. She sounded both timid and hopeful.

Artemis nodded. "It turned out fine." The past year had been difficult but it had also been rewarding. She was stronger now and had a mate and a large family in her pack mates. Her life wasn't perfect but it was a good one.

Kira bit her lip. "Do you have your phone?"

Confused, Artemis nodded.

"I want to show you something that no one else except for Barrow's ever seen," said Kira. "Take a picture of me and use the flash."

Artemis did as asked. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and used the flash while taking a picture of Kira. What she saw, she hadn't expected. The picture showed what appeared to be flames surrounding Kira.

"What the heck?" murmured Artemis. She knew werewolves' eyes could flash in pictures, but this was totally new to her.

"I know. It just started showing up a few months ago," said Kira. "It only happens with the flash on and I don't know how, but Barrow knew about it. He used my own phone to take pictures of me right before you showed up last night. This and what I did last night was why I was avoiding you. I was just scared and didn't know what to do."

Now Artemis understood why Kira had been so desperate to get her phone back. "That's why you didn't want Rafael seeing it."

Kira nodded. "If someone sees those pictures…"

"They won't," promised Artemis. Now she knew how Stiles felt when he had a crazy idea and wanted to do something crazy. "We'll take care of it, I promise."

Kira looked relieved.

XXX

As expected, once the nature of the selfies on Kira's phone were made known to Artemis's friends, they agreed to get the phone back or at least erase the photos from Kira's phone before anyone could see them. If the photos were seen, it would lead to unwanted questions and eventually lead to the exposure of not just Kira but also the entire pack as well as the rest of the supernatural world, which was something that couldn't be allowed, no matter what.

As soon as the time was right, Artemis, Kira and Stiles drove to the police station. The others were at Derek's loft as he'd consented to hosting the blackout party.

Before Artemis and Kira went in, Stiles reached through his jeep's window and handed Artemis three keycards. "This one will get you into all the perimeter doors, this one into the evidence room and this one into my dad's office."

"This is impressive, Stiles. But…you didn't steal these, did you?" asked Kira. If they were missed, then there would be trouble.

Stiles shook his head. "No, I cloned them using the RFID emulator. I figured it's safer as well as smarter than stealing them."

"I agree. Stiles, you'd make one heck of a criminal," said Artemis.

"I will take that as a compliment," said Stiles. "Now, pay attention. Almost everyone's dealing with the blackout, but there's always somebody at the front desk. There's Dispatch, maybe a couple of people on nightshift or so. You guys are going to use the service door entrance by the dumpster. Nobody uses it. Now, I'll text you if anyone comes out, but if you guys get caught, I can't help you. My dad's still under investigation for impeachment thanks to Rafael, so if we get caught, I will run and leave you both for dead."

Kira didn't look entirely happy to hear this.

"I understand," said Artemis. "Seriously though, thank you so much for this. Wish us luck."

"Good luck," said Stiles.

And with that, they began to break into the police station.

Despite nearly getting caught by one of the night shift workers, Artemis and Kira managed to sneak into the police station without too much trouble. They kept out of sight by crouching down behind the desks and staying concealed in the shadows.

After a bit of searching in the evidence room, Artemis found Kira's phone. "Hey, I found it!" she whispered.

Kira took it and switched it on, only to look dismayed when a picture of a battery with no energy bars appeared on the black screen.

"It's dead. What do we do?" she whispered.

"We'll have to charge it," said Artemis. But how they'd do that when there was still a blackout, she had no idea. Then Artemis spotted her father's laptop on a desk and knew what to do. "Kira, find a charger cable."

After rifling through the desk drawers, Kira found a charger cable and plugged one end into the laptop and the other into her phone while Artemis got the laptop turned on.

Thankfully, the laptop still had plenty of power in its battery, which was good for them. But the image that appeared on the desktop wasn't something Artemis expected. Rafael's desktop picture was that of him, Kali and Artemis when they were very young. They were all smiling in the photo as it was before Artemis knew what kind of person her father truly was.

"Unbelievable," said Artemis.

"What? Who's in the picture?" asked Kira.

"It's me and my sister with my father before I knew what a jerk he was," said Artemis.

To anyone else, it would've been a sign that her father was changing his tune, but not to Artemis. She only saw it as another of Rafael's pathetic attempts to get back into her life and pretend to be a good father while acting as though the past never happened. Not wanting to look at it anymore and knowing they didn't have an unlimited amount of time, she then switched the screen to the phone charger monitor.

After a few moments of anxiously waiting, Kira's phone became charged enough for her to erase the pictures and not a moment too soon. Artemis's senses picked up on the sound of Rafael's car approaching and then she received a text from Stiles.

_**Red alert! Rafael's approaching. E.T.A. five minutes.**_

"Dang it!"

"What is it?" asked Kira.

"Rafael's coming. We need to leave. _Now_," said Artemis.

They switched off the laptop, and quickly put the phone back where they'd found it before sneaking out of the police station as quickly as they could.

Once they were outside, they were met by Stiles, who was anxiously pacing by his jeep. He looked relieved when he saw them.

"Dude, you just about gave me a heart attack!" he said. "So, can I assume from the looks on your faces that everything's good?"

"Yeah, it's perfect. All the photos are deleted. There's nothing even remotely supernatural on Kira's phone," said Artemis, smiling. "We're safe."

"Thank heavens," said Stiles, in relief.

Kira was actually smiling and looked excited for the first time in a while. "That was _awesome! _I mean, terrifying. _Completely _terrifying, but kind of awesome!"

Stiles grinned. "And now you're officially part of our little club of adrenaline junkies."

Kira laughed. "I've never done anything like that before. Do you guys do that a lot?"

"More than I'd like," admitted Artemis, sheepishly. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

Kira's smile widened. "Yeah, I'll bet," she said. "So, I hear there's a blackout party at Derek's place tonight. Do you guys want to go?"

Artemis glanced at Stiles who nodded.

"Yeah, sure." After all the stress and craziness of late, something as normal as a party sounded like the perfect end to the night.

XXX

At Derek's loft, a blackout party was underway.

Initially, Derek hadn't wanted to have the party at his loft, but when Cora had heard about it, she'd begged Derek to give his consent. Derek, being unable to refuse his little sister, gave in and agreed to have the party at his loft.

It was a huge turnout with at least half of Beacon Hills high school in attendance. There was a DJ playing the latest music, a bartender serving sodas, an artist painting bioluminescence paint on people's faces and bodies, a portable generator gave power to the blackout lights hanging on the wall, and there was glow-in-the-dark tape decorating the walls. Everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves immensely, including Alison, Lydia and the rest of the pack.

Ethan was in an exceptionally good mood as not only was the party a blast, but his confession of his secret to Danny had gone well. It turned out Danny had always known about the supernatural that Beacon Hills was home to and had known that Ethan was a werewolf and was just waiting for Ethan to tell him himself. Ethan's lycanthropy didn't matter to Danny. All in all, it was proving to be a really great night.

For now…

Meanwhile, Artemis had just arrived with Kira and Stiles and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Apparently the twins didn't fool around when it came to parties.

"Wow," said Artemis, whistling low. "Can you believe this place?"

"Nope. And I'll tell you what else I'm having trouble believing. How a key gets on my key ring without my noticing," said Stiles, as they walked through the crowd. "I found it this morning."

Artemis frowned. "Well, maybe it's your dad's or something."

"I already asked him. He doesn't know anything about it," said Stiles. "And I have no idea what it's for or where it goes."

"Want to leave so we can figure it out?"

Before Stiles could reply, Malia ran up them. She was dressed in shorts and a tank top and had her hair in a braid down her back and was painted like everyone else.

"It's about time. I was wondering when you'd show up!" said Malia, as she kissed Stiles' cheek. "Care to dance?"

Stiles grinned as he nodded. "Yes. Lead the way, milady."

Artemis smiled as Malia took Stiles by the hand and led him out onto the dance floor. Judging from her observations, Stiles was going to have a girlfriend before too much longer.

Artemis and Kira then proceeded to get their faces painted, Artemis had a crescent moon on her forehead and Kira had a small fox's face on her cheek, before they went and danced with their friends. During their fun, Artemis briefly left Kira to get them some sodas and she located Kira by making her eyes glow their Alpha red. In this crowd, nobody noticed.

When Artemis spotted Kira, she felt both intrigued and somewhat surprised when she saw that what she'd thought was fire surrounding Kira in the photos was actually a fox. Did this mean Kira was a kitsune? Her mind drifted back to Kali's warning. _The fox and the wolf, though normally enemies, must become allies if there's to be victory._ Artemis didn't want to believe it, but what if Kira was the one Kali had meant?

Artemis forced herself to push to the back of her mind for the moment as she walked over to Kira and gave Kira her soda. Once their sodas were drunk, Artemis asked, "Hey, want to go outside onto the roof? It's quieter."

Much as she was enjoying the party, Artemis wanted a bit of peace and quiet as the noise was starting to get to her thanks to her enhanced hearing.

"Yeah, sure," said Kira.

So, they ended up going out on the roof. The noise of the party was just a soft background noise now and it was also a very nice evening.

"Wow. The view up here is gorgeous," said Kira, as she took in the view of the city from the roof of the building. "Do you come up here a lot?"

"Sometimes. Derek and I come up here for dates sometimes," said Artemis. She smiled softly to herself as she thought of the picnics, stargazing and other times she'd been up here alone with her mate, just enjoying being with him and enjoying loving him and being loved by him.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Quite a while. Our anniversary's coming up soon," said Artemis.

"And is he a werewolf like you?" asked Kira.

Artemis nodded. "Yeah. But he was born one, he wasn't bitten like me." Sometimes Artemis thought Derek was luckier than she as he'd had morning warning that Artemis before being plunged into the supernatural world. "Derek's also an Alpha, just like me. We're kind of the leaders of our pack. It can be a challenge sometimes, but it's worth it."

"Wow," said Kira. She looked at Artemis in awe before falling silent. "Hey, Artemis, I get that you're a werewolf and probably have seen more of the supernatural than I have, but why are you so cool with what's been happening to me? You saw those pictures of me. How do you know I'm not going to become a monster?"

"Well, because honestly, while I am surprised that you're a non-human, whatever it is you are, it's not the scariest thing I've ever come across in the last year," said Artemis. "And besides, I've met plenty of monsters to know enough that you're not one of them."

"And exactly what _have _you come across?" asked Kira, curiously.

"Short version? Crazy psychotic supernatural hunters, a vengeful Alpha wolf, a kanima which is a humanoid lizard that paralyzes and kills people on behalf of its vengeful master, an entire pack of Alpha wolves with their leader known as the Demon Wolf, a banshee, a former druid emissary turned into a Darach, a werecoyote, a ghost, and now you," said Artemis. And that really was the short version of everything she'd been through over the last year.

Kira looked stunned. "Wow."

"Yeah," said Artemis. "And another thing, the thing that's covering you, it doesn't look like its evil. It looks like it's a fox, protecting you like a coat of armor."

Kira frowned. "So, what does that make me, then? What am I?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet," said Artemis. She suspected Kira was a kitsune but she didn't want to say anything just yet until she had more information. "Derek knows more about this stuff than I do. So, let me talk to him and check the bestiary and we'll figure it out. Together."

Kira looked comforted by this and thanked Artemis for all she'd done before the two girls began chatting to each other about this and that. But all this ceased when Artemis felt Derek's pain through their link and heard his howl.

"Artemis, what's wrong?" asked Kira, worried.

Artemis breathed heavily as she stood up and forced herself to ignore the great fear that was threatening to overwhelm her.

"It's Derek. Something's wrong."

And she had a feeling it was going to get worse before it got better.

XXX

Meanwhile, downstairs at the party, Aiden and Danny were frantically looking for Ethan.

Ethan had gone to get some ice for the bartender. It should've been quick trip to Derek's supply closet, but he'd been gone for over half an hour. Something was definitely wrong.

Danny and Aiden met up with Jackson, who was trying to find Lydia and then the three of them ran into Cora.

"What's the matter, boys? Party getting boring?" asked Cora. "And have any of you seen Derek? He promised he'd show up, but he's still not here. He's never been this late."

"No, but he's not the only one who's missing. Ethan's gone. He went to get some ice and he's not back yet," said Aiden.

"And I can't find Lydia," said Jackson. He looked worried and agitated. The worry for Lydia, the agitation was for whatever poor moron he was about to let loose his anger on. "She went looking for Artemis, but she's not with Artemis." He'd already texted Artemis asking about Lydia's whereabouts, but Artemis's reply stated that Lydia wasn't with her.

Cora immediately looked concerned. "Why was Lydia looking for Artemis?"

"I don't know. She didn't tell me. One minute we were talking and the next, she looked panicked. She said she had to find Artemis and would be back in two minutes, but that was twenty minutes ago," said Jackson.

Cora's eyes widened. "Oh, no. You don't think she had a…?"

Jackson paled as the realization of Cora's sentence hit him. "Oh, crap." Lydia had possibly had a banshee moment and now she was missing. This was _so _not good.

Aiden then took charge. "We need to find them. Cora, you come with me and Danny. We'll search the closet for Ethan. Jackson, get the others, try to find Lydia. And tell Artemis what's going on. We might need her help."

Aiden's orders were obeyed and everyone split up to locate their missing friends.

Before long, Lydia was found on the balcony, shivering like nobody's business and almost non-responsive to Jackson's touch. They were to get her warmed up by wrapping her in blankets and putting her next to a heater vent. Ethan was found in the exact same state in the supply closet. Cora triggered Ethan's healing ability which snapped him out of it. And Derek was found outside next to his car, healing quicker from the attack due to his Alpha status and feeling severely ticked off.

All three of them bore the same mark as Isaac and all three of them said they saw the same demon-like creatures and the night wasn't over yet. Knowing they were probably going to get into a fight and couldn't risk innocents getting caught in the crossfire, Isaac set off Derek's security alarm which sounded almost exactly like a fire alarm and sent the party guests packing. Danny was among them as he was sent away with Lydia for their own safety.

This wasn't done a moment too soon, as the five demonic-like beings that had attacked them appeared in the main room of Derek's loft and by the looks of things, they meant business and were there for a fight.

"Guys, why're they all looking at me?" asked Aiden, warily.

He was right. All five seemed to be staring at Aiden and then they started walking towards him. It was then the pack wolfed out and began attacking the creatures. It didn't go well. The pack was fast, but the creatures were faster. Worse still, when their blows didn't go through the creatures like Artemis's hand had gone through Kali's ghost, the creatures seemed to be immune to harm and basically indestructible. The creatures seemed to be a lot more powerful and stronger than even Artemis, because they were tossing the pack around the room like ragdolls and did quite a bit of damage to those they hurt.

Just when they thought the fight couldn't get any worse, it did. One of the creatures pulled a katana out of its chest and swung around like a professional, warning off any who dared approach it. Then it walked over to Aiden, who was now being held in place by two of the other creatures. Its eyes glowed greenish-yellow like a firefly's as it grasped Aiden's head and looked into his eyes. But instead of harming Aiden, it eventually pulled away, leaving Aiden the same as the others. The same thing happened to Cora, Boyd, and Erica despite the pack's efforts.

Artemis, now healed from her wounds caused by the creatures, shifted into her humanoid wolf form as the creatures turned their attention to her. But she didn't have to protect herself as sunlight peaked in through the window, and the light of the sun's rays caused the creatures to disappear into whirls of grey and black smoke, leaving them alone and feeling shaken.

"Derek, what the heck were those things?" demanded Artemis, after they'd tended to their Betas. "What was that all about?"

Derek looked unsettled. "I don't know."

That didn't bode well.

"We might know something," said Isaac, catching their attention. "Or at least, Alison's dad might know."

Chris's twenty-four hours were up, allowing Isaac and Alison to tell the pack of the first attack caused by the creatures.

XXX

Later that day, before school started, Stiles was doing some investigating of his own. He'd told no one of this, not even Artemis or Malia. He did so only because he knew she was already worried about him and he didn't want to make it worse until he had proof of his suspicions.

Somehow, the key had gotten onto his key ring without him knowing and something about the message to Barrow seemed familiar. He hoped he was wrong about his suspicions but somehow he doubted it.

When Stiles snuck into the chemistry classroom, it unsettled him to learn that the key went to classroom's closet. The message was still there on the blackboard. Hesitantly, he picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the numbers down. Much to his horror, Stiles' handwriting matched that of the coded message left to Barrow.

Stiles didn't know what was worse; the fact that he had acquired the key to the closet and written the message for Barrow to kill Kira or that he didn't even remember doing any of it.

XXX

_**A/N: Please, review! **_


	5. Silverfinger

**Silverfinger**

After the incident at Derek's loft, Artemis and the others met at Alison's house to speak with Chris, who had further information for them. By the looks of things, he'd gone to quite a lot of trouble to acquire that information as he'd sustained numerous bruises and cuts and was being treated by Alison as they all talked.

As suspected, Chris had encountered the demonic creatures before. It had happened years ago in Japan and now he was telling the pack of the incident.

"…something ritualistic about it. Like it was looking right into his soul," said Chris.

"That's what it did to Isaac and the rest of us," said Derek, shuddering a little.

"That's what it did to everyone," said Alison.

Artemis frowned. "Wait, it _didn't _go after everyone. It only went after those with a connection to the supernatural, the werewolves and Lydia." The creatures hadn't gone after the humans at all. They'd only gone after the non-humans.

Chris nodded.

"So, who'd it go after in Japan?" asked Isaac.

"A kumicho, a yakuza boss," said Chris, grimly. "I met him when I was eighteen."

Everyone stared at him.

"You were dealing with the Japanese mob? What were you thinking? That's insane!" said Cora.

"I didn't have much of a choice. I was following orders," said Chris. He sighed. "It was my first gun deal. It was supposed to be a simple exchange, except Gerard left out the minor detail about the buyer being yakuza. He wanted to see if I could adapt in the moment. He was testing my ability to improvise."

"Or your ability to survive," said Erica.

Erica's guess was probably right as Gerard was known for going to insane levels to test a hunter's ability to survive in dangerous situations.

"You're probably right. Anyway, the moment the sun went down, it was like the creatures just materialized out of the shadows," said Chris. His expression was cold and there was a hint of pain in his eyes as though remembering the past was painful for him. "They had swords, not curved like a katana, but straight black steel like ninjatos."

"What did they want?" asked Artemis.

"They were after the kumicho," said Chris. His eyes became dull and aged with pain like that of a soldier's who'd seen far too many battles. "His men did their best to protect him but the creatures took them all down like flies, and they showed no mercy whatsoever. I felt like a coward for doing nothing but I was so scared, I couldn't move."

"Sounds to me like it was the smart thing to do. If you'd attacked, they probably would've killed you too," said Boyd. "Then you wouldn't be here now."

It was true. Had Chris acted as the yakuza had, he probably would be dead. Alison wouldn't exist and many lives that Chris had saved would be lost and they'd all still be in the dark about the creatures. It was better this way.

"They didn't mark the yakuza boss, did they?" asked Artemis. By the way Chris was going with his story, it was easy to see where it was headed.

Chris shook his head. "No. It turned out the yakuza boss had a secret of his own. He wasn't any kind of supernatural beast I'd ever encountered. His eyes were pure white and glowing and his fangs were huge and crooked, not fine like a werewolf's. He tried to defend himself but the creatures killed him before he could do much of anything. I couldn't stop it and frankly, I'm not sure that it would've been the best choice."

Derek whistled low. "Did you ever find out what he was?"

Chris shook his head again. "No, but I know someone who might know. I wasn't the only survivor that night. There were a few others. One of them was a man called Katashi. They called him Silverfinger because of an unusual prosthetic. After the boss was killed, it looked like he was ready to take down the remaining creatures by himself. But he didn't get a chance because at the point, I finally got my courage up and I fired a bullet at the creature's face. It shattered its mask and the next thing I knew, it was gone. I know I didn't kill it but it at least slowed it down for us to get out of there in one piece."

"Holy cow," murmured Jackson.

"So, at least we know breaking the mask's a good defense against them," said Artemis. She was feeling a little shaken as all of this was scaring her. "But that's not what's worrying me most."

"Then what is?" asked Isaac.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that these things show up so soon after Kali's warning. She said history was going to repeat itself and I was the only one who could stop it from ending the same way as it did before. I think her warning's coming true. Whatever these things are, whatever it is they were after, it's happening for a reason," said Artemis, grimly. "And I don't think this was the first time they showed up."

"You think if we find out their origin, what made them in the first place and what thing was that they were after, we could stop them and prevent history from ending as it did before like Kali said," said Isaac.

Artemis nodded. "It's the best chance we've got." She was also worried about the other part of the warning. Kali had warned her not to give up on one of her friends even when everyone did. Whatever the creatures were after, Artemis had a horrible feeling it was going to affect one of her friends in a terrible way.

"It makes sense to me. But still, we need to talk to Katashi," said Chris.

"I'm guessing you know where he is?" asked Derek.

"He's in the country. I've kept tabs on him since that night," said Chris. "I spent yesterday trying to track him down, but it didn't go too well as you can see. He doesn't want to be found. But he's going to have to be found if we're to get answers about these things."

Derek didn't look too pleased with this. "Do whatever it takes to find him. I don't care what you have to do. Just get answers before sundown. These things are going to go after Huntress next and I'm not about to lose her."

"So, what, you want a twenty-four hour protection detail on Artemis?" asked Isaac.

Derek nodded.

Artemis's eyes flashed in annoyance. "I don't need or want bodyguards! I can take care of myself! Besides, they won't show up again until after sunset. We've got plenty of time until then and I've got security measures at my house." She appreciated Derek's protectiveness and she understood his concerns, but she wasn't about to be crowded all day long. She was a True Alpha and she could take care of herself.

"Such as?" asked Erica.

"A mountain ash barrier that my mom or Stiles or Alison can activate," said Artemis.

"I'm not taking any chances," said Derek, flatly. He cast Artemis a pleading look. "Huntress, _please_. Just do this for me."

Artemis want to refuse yet again but after feeling Derek's desperation and fear through their link along with his love for her, she reluctantly agreed to be chaperoned for the rest of the day but insisted that if she wanted it, the pack would be within screaming distance and not any closer as she needed space to breathe. Derek agreed.

It was also decided that Chris would borrow Isaac, Jackson and Boyd for his plan to speak with Katashi and just before sundown, the others would meet at Artemis's house and wait out the night in there, safe within the mountain ash barrier. It wasn't much of a plan but it was all they had.

XXX

When it came time to head to school, Artemis enjoyed a race with the twins on their bikes to the school parking lot as they were following her per Derek's orders.

Artemis sighed as she took off her helmet. "I cannot believe you guys agreed to this. You're seriously going to be doing this all day?" She'd been under protection detail for only a short while and it was already driving her nuts.

"All day and all night if need be," said Aiden. "Like it or not, you're a target of demonic ninjas who can pulls swords out of their chests and appear out of nowhere and apparently have no real weaknesses and also kicked our butts."

"Those things were looking right at you when the sun came up," said Ethan. "It's a pretty safe bet they're going to come after you."

"Need I remind you that those things only come out at night?" said Artemis, unable to keep the exasperation out of her voice. "And must I also remind you that while I appreciate this, it's not the first time someone or something's been after me and it's not going to be the last."

It might've seemed like Artemis was taking it lightly, but the fact was, she wasn't. The situation was fully settled on her. She was scared and doing her best to handle what was happening in her own way. If she didn't, she was going to lose it. And the sad truth was, despite Artemis's fear, she had grown used to the dangers of her life.

"We've taken that into consideration," said Aiden.

"And we've decided that since this our first time dealing with demonic ninjas, we're going to play it safe. And let's not forget that while you've handled yourself against some nasty stuff before, you've also come close to dying multiple times in the past. So, we're not going to take any risks," said Ethan. "The pack's going to watch over you all day."

Artemis sighed yet again as she headed into the school building. "Okay, fine. But there's something else you're forgetting. It might not even be me that those things are after."

"You think they were targeting somebody else? Who?" asked Aiden.

"Kira was right behind me," she reminded them. "She's not human either. She might be their real target. In which case, we need to protect her too."

"If you want us to, we will. But we're still keeping an eye on you," said Aiden.

Artemis nodded. She could tell they weren't going to give this up so there was no point in arguing. "Just don't forget my condition to this arrangement. And another thing, I need to talk to Stiles alone about what happened last night."

"Absolutely not," said Aiden, flatly.

Artemis gave him a stern look. "This is not up for discussion! I need to talk to Stiles _alone_. You can wait outside, but no eavesdropping of any kind. I don't want you using your werewolf hearing to listen in. If you try, I'll know."

Ethan and Aiden stared at her in confusion. Usually there was no way of knowing if someone was using their enhanced senses to listen into a conversation.

"How would you know?"

Artemis gave them a look. "I'm the True Alpha, remember? You've no idea what I can do. My word is final. I'm going to talk to Stiles in private. _No eavesdropping! _Are we clear on that?" Just to make sure she was clear, her eyes briefly turned bright red.

So, with some reluctance, the twins agreed to her terms and allowed her to speak with Stiles alone without listening in.

XXX

After meeting with Stiles in the chemistry classroom and filling him in on what had happened last night, Stiles had his own story to tell Artemis.

He'd discovered a bit more about the key and the message that had sent Barrow to Kira, and he was severely freaked out by it. Malia had noticed something about the key and it had caused Stiles to do some research which had led him to the state he was in now.

"…she starts talking about phosphorous and how the key has chemicals on it. And that made me think of the chemistry closet and the fact that someone had to let Barrow in so they could leave him the message and stuff."

Stiles' face fell when he came to the blackboard and saw that it was completely blank. There was no message to Barrow or even Stiles' comparison of the handwriting. It was gone as if it had never been there in first place.

"It's gone," he said, looking crestfallen. He quickly regained his composure. "It doesn't matter, though. It doesn't matter. I've still got the key." He ran over to the chemistry closet and began looking through his keys for the closet's key, only to find that it was gone too. "I had it here. I swear, I had it this morning. It's gone."

Artemis felt concerned. "Okay, calm down. We'll figure this out." This wasn't boding well. How could the key have gotten onto Stiles' key ring without him noticing and vanish in the same way? It didn't make sense.

Stiles didn't share in her beliefs. "That's not the worst part of it, Artemis. I was in here a couple of hours ago to test a theory. The message that was left for Barrow on the blackboard, it was in _my _handwriting. Except I don't remember writing it or anything."

Artemis's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. _Stiles _had unlocked the chemistry closet for Barrow and left him a message for him to kill Kira? It made no sense! Stiles wasn't the kind of person to do that sort of thing.

"Stiles, this doesn't make any sense. Why would you do any of this stuff? You're a good person. You don't go around helping psychos like Barrow," said Artemis. "It's probably a frame-up. Someone's trying to get into your head and make you think you did it so it'll throw us off the trail of the real perpetrator."

Stiles didn't look convinced as he pulled out a newspaper article from his pocket. "This is the news report that came out about Barrow when they first caught him, about the shrapnel bomb that he used. See? See what he did? He put nuts, bolts, and screws into a box and hide the bomb in the box that he wrapped up like a birthday present. That was my idea for the prank I pulled on Coach Finstock for his birthday. It can't be a coincidence!"

Artemis didn't know what to think at this point. She knew Stiles was a good person and he wouldn't willingly do bad things like this but there were too many coincidences for this to be ignored. But there was also something else that didn't add up.

"Stiles, look at me." When Stiles looked into her eyes, she saw that Stiles looked just as bad as he had when he'd had his last panic attack if not worse. "Listen to me, I believe what you're saying is true, but I refuse to believe that you're a monster. You're not evil. But I also think that you're tired and possibly sick with a bug. We'll figure this out together, I promise. In the meantime, why don't I call Malia and have her take you to see my mom at the doctor's?"

Stiles and Malia had been growing close and Artemis knew she could trust the werecoyote to look after Stiles with her life if it came down to that. And Artemis also knew that Melissa wouldn't hesitate to look over Stiles and make sure he was okay as she saw Stiles as a son.

Stiles accepted Artemis's suggestion, which led to Artemis making a phone call to her mother, who agreed to see Stiles when he came in and then one to Malia, who didn't hesitate to agree to help Stiles. Malia came to the school and rode with Stiles in his jeep to the hospital where Melissa was waiting for them.

XXX

At the Argents' house, Chris was making a plan to see Katashi. So far, it wasn't looking too good.

"Talking to Katashi won't be easy. He's a paranoid recluse who rarely steps outside the gates of his estate," said Chris.

"Considering he was nearly turned into shish-kebab all those years ago, can you blame him?" asked Boyd. Paranoia and fear after a night like that was only to be expected.

"No. But it doesn't mean well for us. It makes it harder to talk to him," said Chris. He then look a tad smug. "But fortunately, Katashi has a weakness for rare, antique weapons. Yesterday, I had some of my contacts put the word out that I was selling one from my own collection."

Working a double-life as a hunter and firearms dealer had led Chris to creating a fine collection of weapons. He reached into a closet and pulled out an antique gun in a case that looked pristine and fine.

Isaac whistled low. "Wow. Much as I hate guns, I have to admit, that's beautiful."

"It is. It's a French Flintlock Turnover Pistol from 1645," said Chris.

"Please tell me the reason you asked for us is because you're not going alone," said Alison. She didn't like this plan and she hated the idea of her father going to do something incredibly dangerous alone. It made her worry for him especially since it hadn't been that long since she'd almost lost him to the Darach.

"Much as I would prefer it, I'm not," said Chris.

"I fail to see another choice," said Jackson, grumpily. "You heard what Derek said. Those things were looking right at Artemis. It's a safe bet she's the one they're after, which means we only have until nightfall to find a way to protect her and if we fail, Derek's going to kill us all." He didn't like the idea of being on the receiving end of Derek's anger as Derek's temper and protectiveness of those he loved was infamous.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Then let's go see if a highly-paranoid yakuza wants to put another gun into his collection," said Isaac.

XXX

Meanwhile, Stiles and Malia had just arrived at the hospital.

Malia was worried about Stiles as he didn't look well at all. He also seemed to have some trouble walking, which led to Malia slinging one of his arms around her neck while keeping her arm secured around his waist to keep him straight and walking.

"Melissa Moon?" called out Malia, when they walked into the hospital.

Melissa, who'd been typing at her computer, looked up at the sound of her name and then quickly rose to her feet. She looked concerned at the sight of Stiles' condition.

"Oh, Stiles, kiddo, you look awful," said Melissa, sympathetically. "Come with me. There's a room you can use."

She helped escort Stiles to a room devoid of any other patients and had him sit on the bed and discuss his symptoms while she wrote them down.

"…having blackouts, but they don't last very long," said Stiles. "And I've been sleepwalking, just like I used to do when I was a kid. I've also been having some really bad anxiety."

Melissa looked concerned. "Panic attacks?"

Stiles nodded. "A couple. Last one was the day Malia broke into the school. It was pretty bad."

"Okay, technically, I didn't break into the school since the door to the place was open," said Malia, making a face.

Stiles laughed and slid his hand into Malia's, tightly intertwining their fingers. "Oh, and I also temporarily lost the ability to read. But that might just be PTSD from the magical tree that almost collapsed on us because of the Darach's human sacrifice business."

Melissa and Malia looked amused.

"I do vaguely remember that, yes," said Melissa. It wasn't something Melissa liked to think about as she'd almost died and she'd lost her oldest daughter that night as well. But if making a joke out of it would cheer Stiles up a little, she was all for it. "How many hours of sleep are you getting?"

"Eight over the last three days," replied Stiles.

Melissa looked surprised and Malia looked worried to hear this.

"Eight hours over the last three days? Stiles, no wonder you look like you're about to drop dead! It's a miracle you've lasted this long," said Malia. She gently caressed his face. "You should be resting more. What's keeping you up?"

"Nightmares, mostly," said Stiles. He sounded tired and on the verge of breaking down, which caused Malia to wrap an arm around him and rest her head on his shoulder. "I've also been feeling irritable. My Adderall's also not working and before you ask, I can't tell if I'm more impulsive than I usually am. I'm also having vivid dreams during the day."

"Hmm," said Melissa. She put on a pair of white latex gloves, prepped a needle and then lifted Stiles' sleeve. "Well, it sounds to me like you are one _very _sleep deprived young man, so I'm going to give you a sedative so you can get a proper night's sleep. Does that sound okay?"

Normally, Stiles would've flat-out refused to take a shot as he _hated _needles, but in this case, he was more than happy to accept it as he wanted some real sleep for once. So, after administering the shot, which took effect immediately, Stiles was tucked into bed and given some peace and quiet so he could sleep.

"Can I stay with him?" asked Malia.

Melissa nodded. "Sure, sweetie. I'll be in the hall if you need me or you can just press the page button and someone will come. Okay?"

Malia nodded.

As she left, Melissa couldn't help but smile to herself when she saw Malia crawl into the bed with Stiles and wrap her arms around him protectively before resting her head on his chest and falling asleep.

XXX

Meanwhile, Chris was sitting in his car outside the venue for the buyout along with Alison, Isaac, Boyd and Jackson. He frowned when he received a text on his cellphone.

"Dang it," he said. "Katashi's not doing the buyout in person."

"He's a paranoid recluse. Is that so surprising?" said Jackson, somewhat patronizingly.

Chris glared at Jackson. "I was trying to remain optimistic that we wouldn't need to go to my Plan B."

"And that is…?" asked Isaac.

Chris smirked. "Isaac, you're going to do the buy on my orders. Boyd and Jackson are going to be your bodyguards. I've got suits in the trunk of the car and there's a gas station with a restroom down the street. Use it to change and then I need you to memorize some lines for me."

None of the Beta wolves looked happy to hear this plan but as Chris was armed with wolfsbane bullets, none of them argued and instead, they complied with Chris's plan. While they changed, Chris went over blueprints of the building with Alison. The plan was for Isaac and the other two Betas to distract Katashi's goons long enough for Chris and Alison to break into Katashi's office and force him to have a little chat.

"Guys, this is never going to work," said Isaac, catching their attention. He along with Boyd and Jackson were dressed in fine black suits and sunglasses. Boyd and Jackson seemed perfectly fine but Isaac was almost panicking. "This isn't going to work. I look ridiculous. I look like I stepped out of the last period of a Catholic prep school class. Plus, how am I going to memorize any of this stuff when it doesn't even make sense? I mean, 'revolving over and under barrels'? What's that about?"

"He's right," said Jackson, grumpily. "Why can't Boyd or I do his job? Why do we have to do the bodyguard gig?"

Boyd gave Jackson a withering look. "Look at us, man. You really think Isaac's going to be a bodyguard to two big muscle-bound guys like us? No offense, Isaac."

"None taken," said Isaac. Compared to Jackson and Boyd, Isaac didn't look like much.

Alison then stepped in and worked her magic. "Isaac, calm down," she said, as she cupped his face in her hands. "All you have to do is keep him talking long enough for my dad and I to get into his office. Just breathe. You can do this." She then kissed him and he seemed to relax and calm down instantaneously. "Feel better?"

Isaac smiled as he nodded.

"Are you _sure _this is going to work?" asked Boyd, casting a doubtful look at Chris.

"Katashi may not be there for the buy in person but he'll be close," said Chris, firmly. "And I have faith in your abilities."

That satisfied the Betas and after a few more moments of talk, they enacted their plan.

While being escorted by Jackson and Boyd, Isaac went into the building, looking confident and cool and carrying the antique gun in a large duffle bag.

They were met by Katashi's men.

"Gentleman, I believe Mr. Katashi's expecting me," said Isaac.

"_I'm _expecting you," corrected a deep voice. It belonged to a large black man whose scent was that of a werewolf's and he was casually flexing his claws and he looked like a man who wasn't to be trifled with. "My name is Kincaid. You'll be dealing with me."

"As you wish," said Isaac. He walked over to a stone table and placed the gun onto it. "What we're looking at here is a mint-condition French Flintlock Pistol crafted in the mid-seventeenth century. It was a gift from Louis the Fourteenth to a prominent family. It's only ever been fired once." Isaac couldn't but feel proud of himself for being so cool and professional.

"During a duel between two brothers on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles," said Kincaid.

Isaac's heart a skipped a beat but he forced himself to remain calm. "You're familiar with it. Mr. Katashi's clearly a man who knows what he wants."

Kincaid smiled as he nodded. "Of course. Mr. Katashi knows his business."

"Of course he does," said Isaac. "I would expect nothing less from a man of his reputation. And speaking of business, shall we continue with ours?"

Kincaid nodded. "We'll take the gun." He used his claws to delicately open the silver suitcase he'd brought with him. Inside was more money than any of the three Betas had ever seen before. "One hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash is Mr. Katashi's offer. He feels it's more than fair."

"I'm sure it is. But if you don't mind, I need it to be counted," said Isaac. It was a bit of a weak excuse, but he was trying to stall for time. "My superior wants to make sure he's getting full price for his piece."

Kincaid didn't look very happy with this but he accepted Isaac's request with no protests. He placed an automatic money counter on the table and began placing the money into it to count up all the money in the suitcase.

While Isaac was in the process of picking up another set of bills from the suitcase to be counted, Kincaid stopped him but putting his hand on Isaac's and gripping it rather tightly.

"You don't know the full story behind this gun, do you?" said Kincaid. "There was no duel between two brothers. That was just a cover story. The real one involves an encounter in the woods with a vicious animal. Its bite caused on of the men to change into something…" He clicked his tongue. "…monstrous. By his family's code, the brother of this man tried to kill him with this very gun."

Realizing their cover was about to be blown, Isaac tried to regain his footing. "Well, that's quite better than the version I was told." He should've known there was a hunter's history behind the gun. "And it's clear to me that you know what you're doing. So, why don't I just take the payment and leave you with the merchandise? I'm sure your boss will be quite happy."

He tried to pick up the suitcase and leave but Kincaid stopped him yet again, causing Boyd and Jackson to emit growls and extend their claws. But they restrained themselves when Isaac shot them a commanding look. There was no need to fight just yet.

"Personally, I'd like to hear your side of the story," said Kincaid, coldly. His eyes flashed and then a fight went underway between them.

Thanks to all of Derek's training and their previous battle experience, the three Beta wolves took down Katashi's security, including Kincaid and went up to Katashi's office where Chris and Alison were cornering Katashi.

"You boys all right?" asked Chris.

Alison also looked concerned and who could blame her? Isaac, Boyd and Jackson's clothes were torn and they bore wounds that were quickly healing. It was clear they'd been in quite the scuffle.

"Your man Kincaid is tough stuff. But we're tougher," said Boyd. He seemed quite proud of himself and it was well-deserving.

"Are you willing to talk now, Katashi?" asked Chris, as he faced the older Japanese man.

Katashi looked as though he wanted to refuse but he didn't. Instead, he just nodded.

Chris reached into his bag and pulled out the cloth containing the creature's mask he'd broken twenty-four years ago. Carefully, he unfolded it and showed it to Katashi. "Recognize this? It's from twenty-four years ago. You know what they are, don't you?"

Katashi looked like he was to be physically sick as he nodded. "They're called Oni. They're demons. And they're unstoppable."

"Unstoppable?" repeated Jackson, incredulously. "You're saying nothing can kill them?"

"Nothing," repeated Katashi, sorrowfully. "At least, no man-made weapon."

"Where did they come from?" demanded Chris.

"I do not know for certain. I have only heard rumors," said Katashi. "If a certain kind of kitsune sacrifices their tails, they can summon and control the Oni. Only they can call off the Oni and make them act. It is just as well. Kitsune respect the balance of nature and Oni are a force of nature. You don't fight a tsunami. You endure it and hope you're not killed in its path."

No one looked happy to hear this as it meant the situation was worse than they thought.

"How do we 'endure it' then?" asked Alison.

"Several of you already have." Katashi moved from behind his desk and showed the mark on the back of the Betas' ears. "This is the Japanese kanchi for 'self.' This means he's still himself. They're looking for one who not himself."

"What do you mean, 'not himself'?" demanded Boyd. "Like possessed?"

Katashi nodded gravely. "Exactly. There are thirteen kind of kitsune. Celestial, ocean, wild, thunder, etc. But there is one who cannot be trusted and must be destroyed no matter what the cost. It's a dark kitsune. They call it void or a Nogitsune. It takes possession of a host via a fly."

Chris's eyes narrowed. "The kumicho was possessed by one, wasn't he?"

Katashi nodded. "Some willingly accept the Nogitsune and become one with it. Others, it takes by force. Often the one you would never suspect. It's typical of a trickster. But I digress. The kumicho all those years ago was possessed by the Nogitsune. It's how he rose through the ranks of yakuza. Nogitsune draws its power from pain and tragedy, strife and chaos."

"And what better way to do that than possess a yakuza?" said Isaac. It made perfect sense. A mobster could accomplish terrible acts in the blink of an eye. What else could a Nogitsune ask for in a host? Especially when its power came from such horribleness?

Katashi nodded.

"Is there a way to save someone from possession by the Nogitsune?" asked Alison. She had a feeling that this was what Kali was trying to warn Artemis about.

"Not that I'm aware of, but I don't doubt that you could find a way," said Katashi. "I've heard of what's occurred in this town over the past year. The impossible has been accomplished. This will probably be one more added to your list."

"It won't be if we can't figure out a way to stop it," said Chris. "When was the earliest time you heard of a Nogitsune here in Beacon Hills?"

"I have heard rumors, so I cannot know for certain. But I heard that there was an incident way back during World War Two at an internment camp. But that's all I know," said Katashi. He then looked very grave as he held up his hand that had the silver-colored prosthetic. "Do you know why I'm missing my finger?"

"Penance?" guessed Boyd.

Katashi nodded. "The loss of my little finger weakens my grip on a katana. When it's gripped properly, the little finger is the strongest. Such a loss was the price I had to pay for a mistake I made years ago. That is the way of the yakuza. But had it not been for you, Argent, I would've lost far more than night twenty-four years ago. Everyone thought I was preparing to take on the Oni myself that night, but the truth is…" he sighed and looked ashamed. "I was so scared, I was preparing to run for my life. Had I done so, I would've lost my life in penance."

Chris looked understanding. "So, I saved your honor as well as your life that night." In many cultures, one's honor was just as important if not more so, than one's life.

"Yes," confessed Katashi, as a tear escaped him. "You kept me from looking like a coward to the survivors. For that, I can never repay you. But unfortunately, I can do no more for you now." He wrapped up the Oni mask and pushed it away. "I'm sorry that I cannot give you the answers you seek, Argent. But the hard truth is, if there truly is a Nogitsune among you and if you cannot save the host, then death is the only solution you have."

Fear and dread settled on everyone at this. The situation had just gotten a heck of a lot worse and now they were at war once again. But this time, possibly one of their own had become a victim and they would most likely have to face off against them, no matter how much it hurt. It wasn't something any of them like to think about.

So, after thanking Katashi for his time, the five of them left the building and Alison called Artemis to inform her of what they knew.

XXX

After school, Artemis met up with Derek, who was waiting outside for her along with Kira.

Words could not describe how happy she was to be with them both and be free of the rest of the pack's hawk-like watch. It had not just been the twins who'd been watching her all day. Erica and Cora had also taken turns watching Artemis and while she appreciated their concern, she felt like she was being suffocated and she was glad to have some time with her new friend and her mate before nightfall.

They enjoyed a quick motorcycle ride before arriving at Artemis's house and locking down all the doors and windows as quickly as they could.

Kira looked worried. "We're running out of time."

"I know, but Alison and her dad and the others are working on a plan," said Artemis. She had taken Kira straight home after the party and Isaac's explanation, and thus Kira hadn't been told of Chris's previous encounter with the creatures. "And I've also got a special security system installed into the house thanks to my boss."

Kira looked relieved. "Your boss? So, you work for a security company."

"No. Doctor Deaton's a veterinarian," said Artemis.

Kira's face fell. "He's a vet? How's that going to help us?"

"Deaton's not just a vet. He's also a druid," said Derek, as he locked a window tight. "It's a long story, but the point is, he knows the best defenses against the supernatural. One of which is a barrier made of mountain ash wood. Supernatural beings can't get in or out of it unless they're extremely rare." He only knew of two people who'd ever broken a mountain ash barrier and that was his mate and Deucalion, so naturally he was hoping the creatures weren't as powerful as them.

"Seriously? Then why haven't you put it up yet?" asked Kira.

"Because there's a catch. Only humans can make or take down the barrier," said Artemis. "That's why I need someone like my mom to arm it."

Kira looked worried again. "Where's your mom?"

"She'll be here. She's just finishing her shift at the hospital," said Artemis. She breathed deeply and tried to ignore her heart, which was pounding like crazy against her chest. When the others arrived, she had them stand guard at various places in the house before she had Kira come with her to her bedroom where they could talk privately. "Kira, I know you're scared. I'm scared too. But it's going to be okay, I promise. _We'll _be okay."

Kira didn't look convinced. "We? Or me? You don't think it's you they're after, Artemis. You think it's me. That's why you brought me here."

"It could be either one of us," admitted Artemis.

"Then shouldn't I be somewhere else? I know you want to protect me, but I don't want you or anyone else getting hurt because of me," said Kira.

"I know that, but you don't understand what's happening here, Kira!" said Artemis. "I can't just sit by and watch you get hurt or worse, killed. I went through that once with Kali and I can't do that again. I need you here, safe."

Kira frowned in confusion. "What're you talking about? I thought your sister died in an animal attack years ago."

Suddenly remembering that Kira didn't know the truth about Kali, Artemis sighed and had Kira sit beside her on the bed. "What I'm about to tell you, very few people know. Official records say my sister was killed by an animal after she ran away from home, but that's not the truth." She then told Kira a brief summary of what had happened with Kali. "…I couldn't save her and she died in my arms. I can't lose someone I care about like that again. That's why I brought you here. I couldn't save Kali but maybe I can save you."

Tears slid down Kira's cheeks as she hugged Artemis tight and Artemis returned the embrace. Eventually, they broke apart.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know," said Kira. "But Artemis, I really think it's me they want."

"Why?"

Kira sighed. "Get Derek. I've got something to show you two."

So, Artemis called up Derek and he sat beside them on the bed while Kira showed them a book on Japanese fox spirits, which were known as kitsunes.

"Have you guys ever heard of a kitsune?"

Derek nodded.

"I think I am one," said Kira. "Look at this." She flipped through the book until she came upon one of her bookmarked pages. The picture was of a white kitsune surrounded by lightning. "This looks like me at the power station, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does," said Artemis, nodding.

"When a kitsune wraps its tails around itself, it creates fire or lightning," said Kira. "It's called foxfire. As far as I know, I don't have any tails, but I don't know what else I could be. Artemis, you said the thing surrounding me looked like a fox. What if a kitsune is what I am?"

"Then we'll deal with it," said Artemis, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Let me take a look," said Derek. His eyes then glowed bright red. "Yep. You're definitely a kistune. Young ones give off an aura. You haven't learned how to conceal it yet. My guess is you're a thunder kitsune."

"Is that bad?" asked Kira, looking frightened.

"Only if you make it so," said Derek. He'd been trying to have more of an open mind about those who'd been forced into the supernatural world. "Your powers only manifested recently and you haven't hurt anyone on purpose, correct?" When Kira nodded, he continued, "Then you're not evil. If need be, we'll talk to Deaton about this. But the point is, you're going to be fine. You're Artemis's friend, which makes you ours and therefore you're part of the pack and the pack looks after its own."

Kira looked reassured by this and smiled. "Thank you."

Artemis said nothing as she'd decided to wait until later to tell Kira about Kali's warning. With Kira being a kitsune, it was clear to her that Kira was the fox that Kali was referring to and she'd be a key factor in their victory in stopping the creatures and whatever else was going to happen. But she remained silent as Artemis didn't want Kira thinking the only reason they were friends was because of her sister's warning. Foxes and wolves might've been enemies under normal circumstances, but this wasn't one of them. Now was the time for them to be allies.

The room became darker as the sun set and then Artemis's ears perked up at the sound of a vehicle approaching. Believing it to be her mother, Artemis went downstairs with Kira and Derek, but saw Rafael standing in the kitchen instead. He looked far from happy and he had his laptop sitting on the table.

"Rafael, what're you doing here?" demanded Artemis. _Of all the times for him to show up! _The creatures were going to be there any moment now and her moron of a father, a civilian who knew nothing whatsoever about the supernatural world, was there and he was going to get caught in the crossfire. "Whatever it is, it's going to have to wait. I don't have time right now."

Rafael's eyes narrowed. "Strange how you don't have time to talk to me and yet somehow, you had time to break into the evidence room at the station." He flipped on his laptop and showed her an image of her and Kira staring into the webcam.

_Dang it. _Artemis had forgotten her father's laptop was bugged in case someone tried to use it without his consent.

"It was an experiment for my criminology class at school," lied Artemis. "Kira and I were just testing a theory. Your computer was sitting there and I thought I'd check my e-mail before I left. I forgot to cover my tracks. I was sloppy. That's all."

Despite being used to having to come up with half-baked excuses for her behavior, Artemis still couldn't believe how easily the lie had rolled off her tongue. It frightened her a little. When had lying become second nature to her?

"You're darn right you were sloppy. You expect me to believe that bull?" said Rafael, scowling. "Tell me the truth, Artemis! _Now!_"

"Why don't you get a warrant," growled Derek. He looked like he wanted to punch Rafael's lights out. "And if you talk to her like that again, I'll break you in two!"

"I don't _need _a warrant! I'm her father!" snarled Rafael. "And I'll talk to her anyway I like! And you will watch your tone, Hale, or I'll have you arrested for obstruction!"

Artemis's eyes narrowed in anger. "You son of a—! Derek's done nothing wrong and so help me if you arrest him, the ones who pay you will get a fully detailed account of your unjustified harassment! As for you being my father, I don't know how many times I have to say it to get it through your thick skull: you and I are blood, but we're _not _family!"

As far as Artemis was concerned, she had a great family behind her and Rafael wasn't part of it. Family didn't make you feel like you were their emotional punching bag and family didn't abandon you or cause others in your family to run off into the arms of an Alpha wolf.

Just then, Melissa came home.

"What's going on?"

"Domestic dispute," said Artemis, before anyone could speak. "And Rafael was just leaving." She cast a challenging look at Rafael, daring him to question her in front of Melissa, something he would never do.

"Artemis…" said Kira, softly.

Artemis then became aware of how dark it'd gotten and then she felt a chill in the air. She knew what was happening. _Oh, no. Not now! _

Rafael quickly drew his gun at the sight of one of the creatures materializing in the living room. "Who the heck's this?"

"Rafael, no!" yelled Artemis. Fear began to overwhelm her. "Rafael, get back here!" She knew he wasn't equipped to deal with the supernatural. He'd only get himself killed and regardless of her estrangement with her father, Artemis had never wanted Rafael to die.

Artemis's fears were confirmed when he fired at the creature, only to miss and the creature to plunge its sword into his chest.

Kira screamed.

"_No!_" yelled Artemis.

The pack then acted.

Erica and Cora helped Melissa drag Rafael away to safety while Artemis, Derek and the twins wolfed out and began fighting the creature, who was joined by another.

"Mom, the ash!" yelled Artemis, as she dodged a blow from the creature's sword. She tossed the creature out the window while Derek and the twins tossed the second out the door. "Mom, do it now! Do it _now!_"

Melissa quickly stepped into action. She grabbed a jar of mountain ash and broke on the front of the doorway. It immediately took effect by turning black and then the barrier was up, keeping out the creatures who tried and failed to break in.

"We should be safe for now. All the baseboards are made of ash wood," said Artemis. "They shouldn't be able to penetrate the barrier."

"And if they can?" asked Aiden. "What then?"

"Then we'll deal with it," said Artemis. She didn't know what else to say. She didn't want to think about what would happen if the creatures got past the barrier. The hard truth of the matter was, this was only a temporary solution at best. The creatures would be gone at sunrise but they'd surely come again after sunset. It would never end. What were they going to do?

"Artemis, I need you!" yelled Melissa.

"Derek, come with me," said Artemis. "Aiden, watch the door."

Both men obeyed her.

Artemis went into the other room and found Rafael on the bed. His head was elevated and Melissa was keeping pressure on his sword wound. He was sweating, his breathing was labored and he looked a mess.

"Where're Erica and Cora?" demanded Derek.

"They thought they heard something so I sent them to check it out. Anyway, it's not important. I needed Artemis in here because…" Melissa didn't finish her sentence but the look on her face said plenty.

"It's that bad?" asked Artemis. Despite her feelings of anger for her father, Artemis couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

Melissa nodded and looked upset. "Judging by the way his arm's rotated, the tendon looks torn. He could be on his way to a collapsed lung."

_Oh, gads. No. _What little Artemis knew about the medicine, she knew enough to know that her father could possibly die if he didn't get to a hospital soon. But there was no way to get him to the hospital at the moment and he wouldn't last until sunrise. They needed a plan to get rid of the creatures and they needed it fast.

Artemis took over for her mother, putting pressure on her father's sword wound while Melissa got a towel along with water and a rag.

"Rafael, look at me," said Artemis. In spite of herself, she gently combed back his bangs with her fingers, causing him to look at her. "You're going to be okay. Just hang on."

"Artemis," said Rafael. He sounded like he was struggling to breathe and his voice was hoarse. "I'm sorry about Kalika. It's my fault…"

"Shh…" whispered Artemis. Much as she wanted to hear his apology, now wasn't the time to dredge up the past. "We can talk later."

"I know I haven't been the best father," said Rafael, ignoring her. "And I'm sorry for that. I failed you just like I failed your sister. I should've tried harder. Forgive me. I came back because of you. I thought I could make amends, but I screwed that up, just like I always do. Forgive me."

"Ra…Dad," said Artemis. _I can't believe I just called him that. What's gotten into me? _She hadn't called him 'dad' in years. But even so, she felt her heart aching and tears burning in her eyes. She didn't want to lose him for good. "I forgive you. But it can wait until you're better."

"I love you, Little Miss," said Rafael, faintly. He seemed to be happy to hear she'd forgiven him, but he seemed determined to not conserve his strength and instead keep talking.

Artemis's throat tightened. Little Miss was Rafael's nickname for her when she was younger and had had trouble pronouncing her name. She hadn't been called that in years. "I love you too." Try as she might to deny it, Artemis couldn't deny that deep, deep down there was some love for her father in her heart. "But it can wait. Right now, we need to stay focused on getting you better. Just be quiet for now and keep your eyes open, okay?"

Rafael finally as she asked and then Artemis allowed Melissa to take over again when she returned. Artemis then spoke with Derek in a corner of the room using their link. Artemis didn't want to leave Rafael just yet but nor did she want Rafael to overhear them.

_He's in bad shape, Derek. Rafael's not going to last until sunrise. What're we supposed to do? _asked Artemis. _Bite him and turn him to save his life regardless of his feelings about it? _She didn't want to turn Rafael for a number of reasons, one of which being that having a werewolf for an FBI agent was a bad idea and also because she never wanted to turn someone against their will like Peter did.

_I don't know_, said Derek. _But we won't let him die, Huntress, I promise. We'll figure this out._

_I hope you're right, _she said. She wanted to believe it more than anything but for the moment, she was finding it hard to have faith and hope.

Just then, the entire house started shaking, but it wasn't from an earthquake.

"Artemis! Derek!" yelled Cora.

_I'll check it. Make sure my mother doesn't need anything for Rafael first_, said Artemis. Cold-hearted it might've seemed but Artemis needed to get away from it for a moment and she knew Derek would do all he could to help her parents.

And with that, she ran downstairs.

XXX

While Artemis was gone, Derek knelt by Rafael and Melissa.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You can answer my question," croaked Rafael, before Melissa could speak. "Are you the one who changed my daughter?"

Melissa paled while Derek's eyes narrowed as he frowned.

He hoped Rafael hadn't meant 'turned into a werewolf' by his question. It shouldn't have been possible for Rafael to know anything about the supernatural. But nevertheless, he had to try and make sure without giving himself away entirely.

"I never hurt Huntress, if that's what you mean. I would _never _force her into something she didn't want," said Derek. "What she is now is a great woman that I love more than anything and would gladly die for if it meant she'd survive. Artemis is what she is because she chooses to be so. I swear on the grave of my mother, Talia Hale."

Derek may not have initially wanted a werewolf's life for Artemis but he couldn't deny that she'd turned what had been her curse into her gift. She was a stronger person because of what she was willing to do and the kind of heart she possessed. Peter may have forced her to become a werewolf, but everything she was now was because of her choices. And Derek couldn't have felt prouder of her.

Rafael seemed to accept this. "Then I apologize. I thought you were just like the rest of them." He seemed strangely relieved and a tear seemed to escape his eye.

"The rest of who?" asked Melissa. "Raf, what're you talking about?"

Rafael ignored Melissa. "You should get going, Derek. Just promise me you'll look after Artemis and my wife if I don't make it before you go."

"I promise," said Derek. But in his opinion, words didn't need to be spoken on that matter. Melissa was his mate's mother and therefore part of his pack. There was nothing he wouldn't do for Artemis and Melissa. They were family. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

XXX

When Artemis arrived downstairs where everyone else was gathered, she was horrified to see that the creatures were banging on the barrier, trying to break through it.

"Dang it," she muttered. "They're testing for weaknesses."

"And I think they found one," said Derek, as he joined them downstairs. The creatures were at the backdoor and had just begun trying to tear through the barrier with their swords. "I don't think it's going to last much longer."

Just then Artemis's cellphone rang. She immediately answered it and put it on speaker. "Alison, please tell me you've got something. They're here and they're trying to break in. And I think they actually might do it."

"_Yeah, but it's not good_," said Alison. She quickly filled Artemis in on what she'd found out. "_…once they know you're not possessed by the Nogitsune, they won't hurt you. All they're looking for is the Nogitsune. That's all we know, Artemis. I'm sorry._"

Artemis thanked Alison for her information and then hung up.

Kira looked scared but no less surprised. "I was right. These things are looking for me."

"They're looking for a dark spirit. I know it's not you," said Artemis, firmly. She refused to believe it was Kira. "For all we know it's me. I'm one of the most dangerous people here. For all we know, I could've been this thing's first pick for a host."

"It's not you, Huntress!" said Derek, firmly. He wouldn't accept that Artemis might be the one possessed. She was his mate. He would've known by now.

"Can we argue about this later?" interrupted Erica. She looked petrified. "The Oni are going to be in here any minute and we need to do something!"

The Oni then broke the barrier and stepped into the house.

"What do we do?" asked Cora.

"Nothing," said Artemis, shocking them all. "No one move."

Knowing she had no other choice and being unwilling to risk the lives of those she loved, Artemis stepped forward.

Derek grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "What're you doing?" he hissed. His tone was a mixture of fear as well as pleading.

"Derek, they're not going to stop until they check me. I can't let everyone else get hurt or die because of me. I'm an Alpha. I have to protect my pack and make hard decisions." Artemis was scared to death and didn't want to do this but she knew there was no other choice. She cupped her mate's face in her hands. "I love you, always and forever."

Derek's reply was to take her into his arms and kiss her with an intense passion. "I love you too, my Huntress," he whispered as he broke apart from her.

Artemis made no reply as she reluctantly pulled away from him and began walking towards the Oni. Her hand was then grabbed by Kira, who still seemed frightened but also as determined as Artemis was.

"We'll do it together," said Kira.

Artemis stared at her. "You trust me?"

"Completely," said Kira, nodding. "We're pack mates, aren't we?"

Artemis smiled a little and then tightly gripped Kira's hand before stepping forward and allowing the Oni to check them for possession. Their heads were grasped and the Oni's eyes glowed, and eventually the two girls fell to their knees as they felt the after-effects of the check and the Oni disappeared into the night but there was some good news to be had.

On the back of Artemis and Kira's ears was the Japanese sign for self. Neither Artemis nor Kira was possessed by the Nogitsune. And with the Oni gone, they were able to get Rafael to the hospital in time and he was going to make a full recovery. This was all good news, but it still left a very important question unanswered.

If it wasn't any of them who was being possessed by the Nogitsune, then who was it?


End file.
